Kidnapped
by Nerium Dogbane
Summary: Ok, now that I actually know what I'm writing about I can write a better summary! Willow Ryther has never played minecraft, so when a random void appears in her bathroom one night and teleports her to into the game she has no idea where she is. It's strange though, because some of the people she meets seem to know her, but do they?
1. Stormy

**8-28-14 A/U: I've updated the chapters so they make fit with the rest of the story better. From now on I will make sure to plan my stories out instead of writing them down without any idea of the plot, so I won't do this again. It shouldn't be too different though. I'm sorry if this frustrates you people who've already read these chapters, but if you're reading this for the first time then you can ignore this. Hopefully I've improved it, and like I said, I won't change it again.**

**I do not own minecraft, Notch, Herobrine, ect. The only things I do own are the OCs I come up with. That should be obvious. Also, you shouldn't have to worry too much about Mary Sues. You'll know after getting to know the characters better. I prefer to make more complicated people that you become more acquainted with over a period of time.**

* * *

I open my eyes to see a green and blue blur. Slowly, my vision focuses itself and I realize I'm laying in grass. The blue I see is the sky, and it's dotted with a few wisps of cirrus clouds. I try to lift myself up, but my arms are too wobbly and moving only makes me dizzier, so I lay there for a few minutes, 30, no maybe longer, I don't know. Anyway I'm trying to regain my memories and organize my thoughts. How did I get here exactly? Thinking about that is only giving me a headache. Once I think my head is clear enough I try to get up again. I'm not as dizzy any more, thankfully, but now I feel nauseas. I have no idea why I feel sick. Maybe it was the water chestnuts Mom put in the chicken casserole she made for dinner last night. That does seem likely, as it's one of the few vegetables my stomach doesn't like. Mom was probably in a hurry to get to work and accidentally gave me the casserole. Anyway, I'm guessing you're wondering what's going on in this first chapter. I don't blame you; the author's never been very good at starting stories. Either that or she wants to confuse you. That sounds like her.

I push myself up into a sitting position, still feeling sick, and try again to remember how I got here. The last thing I saw was my cat, actually it was the sink...wait, no, it was the floor, but that disappeared and I fell into a void. I can't explain it, but I get this strange feeling about the cat, Stormy. It might be the way she stared at me, or maybe it's the intelligence I saw in her eyes. Either way, I get the feeling she had something to do with this, though I have no proof. I'll keep an eye out for her. If Stormy travelled through the void when I did she's most likely to be somewhere on this island.

Suddenly I'm overtaken by my nausea and throw up. I push myself away as far away from my original spot as I can. As I do my foot bumps into something solid, which I immediately recognize after turning around to look at it. It's Stormy's water dish. I pick it up and look at it. Then I remember something. I didn't hear the water dish hit the tile floor after I dropped it. If this fell through with me, that makes it even more likely that the cat is here somewhere. I put the bowl down and stand up experimentally. Feeling better after getting rid of the casserole, I stand up straight and observe my surroundings. The island is mostly covered in jungle, but around is a somewhat small amount of sand that extends to the beach and separates the jungle from the water, which I'm assuming is an ocean since I can't see any other kind of land on the horizon. The island is uninhabited, or maybe not. I just saw a cow. I refocus myself on finding the problems I need to solve.

1\. I'm stranded on an island that may or may not have people on it. 2. Even if there are people, I don't know if they'll be able to understand what I say. What if we don't speak the same language? What if they're territorial and uncivilized? This brings me to number 3. I don't know where I am or even when I am. For all I know I could be back in the prehistoric ages where dinosaurs roamed the earth. And 4. How, exactly am I here? How was it possible for a void to randomly appear beneath me? Why did that happen? What about that cat, what is she?

I sigh and sit down next to a rock closer to the jungle. How do I know I'm not dreaming? I pinch my arm. It hurts, but since I'm not completely convinced yet I punch the rock near me. Pulling it back and looking at it, I realize that hurt way too much for me to be asleep. I take a deep breath to keep myself from panicking. I know it's only natural to feel afraid after randomly being thrown into an unfamiliar place without any warning or explanation of how, and why, it happened, but if I don't stay calm surviving will become that much harder. I look up at the sky again to see what time it is, but the sun's already directly above me. Strange, the last time I looked I thought it was morning.

I think back to yesterday, when I was living in my own drab neighbourhood. It was dull and boring in color, except for the graffiti that had been spray painted in random places, but similar to a maze in structure. There were many houses, and between them were alleys connected to the side walks on either side. Roads, having a dusty and rather abandoned look, didn't have a lot of traffic. I went to school in the city because the suburb I lived in didn't have a lot of kids. Of course, there was a good reason for that. My town wasn't exactly a kid friendly place, considering the crime rate, but my parents couldn't afford to live in the city where my mom got a job. They are currently saving up money so we can move. I however, have grown accustomed to the place. Often I'll wander the streets during the day, and if anyone does try to attack me I can protect myself. The gang of teenagers that wanders around the town acting like idiots made that mistake more than once. They learned. My sister is involved in after school activities that are very time consuming: cheerleading and soccer. If she's not practicing for a game, she's cheering. My parents pick her up after practice. My brother, who's in first grade, stays at home most of the time with my dad. My dad doesn't work. That's pretty much how my life is, or was.

What was I doing that day? It was Thursday, and I went through my usual routine. Get up and get ready for school in the morning, walk with my sister to the bus stop, then continue walking to school, pay attention in class and avoid my sister. She's one of the popular girls who every one seems to gather around, so being nice to a girl who doesn't care about new fashion statements, doesn't wear make up, or own it for that matter, and doesn't care much for large groups, parties, or even socializing would ruin her reputation. She doesn't like it when people make fun of me though, so to avoid that she and I agreed to avoid each other in school. I have to admit that my feelings were a bit hurt at first, but over time I grew to care less. After we got out of school I met her at the bus stop and walked home with her. I got a snack before heading over to the orphanage I had established for abandoned cats. No one knew about except for me, not even my family. I started working on it after my friend, Aadrika, moved away. Once I got home I went to my room to finish my homework and listen to music...


	2. Flashback

**8-28-14 A/N: I do not own the song. It's called _The Monster_ and it's by Eminem.**

* * *

"_I'm friends with the monster that's under my bed_

_Get along with the voices inside of my head_

_You're trying to save me, stop holding your breath_

_And you think I'm crazy, yeah, you think I'm crazy..."_

The music was suddenly blocked out by excited shouting and loud footsteps, and a door was opened before being slammed shut. Willow knew at once that her family had come back from the pet store.

Even though she was a floor between them and her room, Willow could hear her family very clearly due to a combination of good hearing and noise level. She jumped off her bed, put her mp3 player away, and uncharacteristically hurried downstairs. Today was the day the cat her parents had planned on getting for about week was brought home, and even Willow was excited to see it.

The family was in the living room now, and she had gotten there just in time to see her mom pull the new kitten out of the cat carrier. She walked into the room quietly as her family "ooh"ed and "aww"ed over the tiny black cat. Willow leaned against the wall and waited for her family to stop smothering the poor creäture.

"Ok, ok. Back off guys, give it some room." her dad said, trying to take charge. Willow's nose twitched when she heard his voice.

"You mean _her_." Xia, Willow's sister, pointed out.

"No! It's a boy." Willow's brother, Archie, shouted. He complained about a lot of things, and Willow again wished her parent's would let her teach him not to be so spoiled. It wasn't because she wanted to hurt him though; it was because she didn't like their parenting styles. Either her dad would yell and talk about their flaws, or her mom would explain to them things they already knew and expect them to follow it. It was one of they few things Willow felt strongly about, she realized, but she could never get her parents to understand this, and they didn't change. Willow suddenly noticed how depressed her thoughts were making her and found it annoying.

"She's a girl." Their mom said.

Willow waited patiently as her brother pouted and Xia hugged the kitten, but with a lingering feeling of annoyance. Willow didn't care what gender the cat was, and she didn't say anything when her mom asked what the kitten's name would be. After a bit of debating they decided her name would be Stormy. Willow almost laughed at how ridiculous she thought the name sounded, but she figured it wasn't any worse than the names "Xia", "Willow", or "Archibold". Their parents had a talent for finding unique names. Unfortunately, that sometimes meant it would be harder to make friends. Willow was grateful for that because it meant that the friends she did find were usually loyal to her, which was the trait she valued most in people, but her sister was different. That's why Willow considered her parent's talent unfortunate.

Willow was brought back from her thoughts when she noticed Stormy looking at her, now from Archie's shoulder. The cat had a set of very pale green eyes, and the way she looked at Willow made her uncomfortable. Willow stared back for a few seconds, until she got bored and decided to go outside again. She found the cat a bit strange, but eventually convinced herself she was imagining things. She was feeling rather tired anyway.

* * *

I got back from my walk around 7 p.m. My parents were worried about me, naturally, but they were at least fairly aware of what I was capable of. They told me they had gotten the new kitten earlier today and named her Stormy. I knew that of course, but didn't tell them. Whether they knew I had been there or not didn't matter to me any more, though their lack of awareness still surprised me. My mom walked through the kitchen, picked up her purse and car keys, and headed out the door after telling me she had been called to work earlier. I ate leftovers because my family always eats dinner about an hour earlier, then went upstairs and brushed my teeth. It may have been early, and from what I've heard most kids my age stay up later, but you know that saying "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise."? I almost live by it. It makes the days seem longer. After I finish brushing my teeth, I take a shower. By then it's almost eight, so I go to my room and read before going to sleep.

I had a nightmare that night, and that means a lot considering I said it. My dreams are always strange, and I remember them in great detail because they're so vivid, but they haven't really scared me in a long time. My dream self doesn't freak out anymore, so it was actually rather refreshing to be having a nightmare after so long. I had forgotten how they felt.

I dreamt I was walking through my neighbourhood, like I usually do, but something seemed off about it. It was night, but there weren't any of the usual groups: no one on their way to a night club like I sometimes see from my window, no gangs, no troublemakers. I walked into one of the alleys that had a dead-end. There were boxes stacked at the end of it, but that was all. Then I saw a kitten crawl out of one of the bottom ones. I didn't recognize her in my dream, but I knew after I woke up it had been stormy. The cat meowed and a few other kittens crawled out of the box. They were newborns. I set the small bag of cat food I was carrying down in front of them, and they attacked it viciously. This disturbed me, so I ran home as fast as I could. In real life however, I would not have felt that fear. The closer I got though the more I felt there was something wrong. I ran up to the porch of my house, but stopped when my hand touched the doorknob. I knew something bad would happen if I went inside, but I felt like I had to. There was something I needed in the house. I woke up just as I was about to open the door.

Opening my eyes, I saw my ceiling dimly illuminated by the moonlight coming in through my window. I no longer felt the same amount of fear I had in my dream, but I was still scared. The clock on my nightstand read 12:34, so I tried to go back to sleep. Failing at that, I looked back at the clock. About 20 minutes had passed. I got up and went downstairs to get a glass of water.

I was halfway down the hall when I heard something scratching at the bathroom door. I froze for a second before remembering my parents had decided to put Stormy in the bathroom for the night. I remember feeling sorry for her. I wouldn't like being stuck in a room all night either, so I figured the least I could do was make sure she had water. I opened the bathroom door and Stormy immediately tried to escape. I picked her up, walked into the bathroom, and closed the door behind me to keep her in.

"Sorry fur ball, but you'd get lost in our house." I said even though I knew she couldn't understand me. She meowed as I picked up her empty water dish and walked over to the sink to fill it up. Suddenly I felt very dizzy. I grabbed the edge of the sink to steady myself, but then my vision went out. I tried looking up, and when I did I realized I could see. It was just that the floor was gone, and I was falling. Then I really did black out.


	3. Into the jungle

**A/U: I added some descriptions of what my characters look like, but they're rather brief so you can come up with your own ideas of how they look.**

* * *

Now you should know what happened. I fell through a void and somehow ended up here, and I'm also pretty sure Stormy had something to do with it. Don't ask me why, it's just the way she looked at me. It was like she had a human intelligence, and she was up to something. Looking back on it, she almost seemed to be smirking. Maybe I'm letting my opinions affect my memories.

I stand up and look at the sky again. The sun looks to be a few feet closer to the horizon than before. It's really strange: The world seems so much smaller now. I don't know why though. I walk along the beach around the island, and before long I find that the island I'm on is, in fact, smaller than I previously thought. It probably takes me around 30-40 minutes to get back to the spot I woke up in. I sigh. If I can't find anything near the beach, I'll have to look in the jungle that takes up a large part of the island. From what I can tell anyway.

I walk into the shade of the trees and watch the waves crash onto the beach. This place is so interesting; I've only ever seen the ocean in pictures, and I don't see very many trees, there aren't any in my labyrinth of a town. I don't want to explore the jungle yet though. Looking up at the trees, I try to determine what kind they are, but that only gives me a headache. I lived in a city that didn't care too much for nature, so I never really got to study trees. I know I could've looked them up online, but trees never interested me much before. Looking at these trees now though, I wonder if maybe it was because I never had time to study one up close. I didn't leave the suburb if I didn't have to because my parents didn't want me to wander away and get lost, and when I did it was to go somewhere specific. I usually had other stuff to worry about by then.

I'm interrupted from my thoughts when my stomach growls and I realize I'm hungry. I guess I don't have much of a choice anymore. I can either sit here and wait for someone to rescue me, or I can start looking for food in the jungle. I get up and walk into the jungle. I doubt there's anyone here. During my walk around the island I saw absolutely nothing to indicate the existence of civilization, and even if there were people here, there's no way I'd just sit down and wait for help. I may be a girl, but I'm definitely not that kind of girl. That's why all those drama movies about damsels in distress annoyed me.

In this jungle there are a lot of vines, thick under brush, and less light because of the canopy. I don't really trust my sense of direction. It took me a about 4 years of mapping and trying to memorize my neighbourhood to get used to the suburb. Suddenly I trip on something and unintentionally squeak in surprise. I get up and brush myself of before walking again, glad no one was around to see that. I stop after a few minutes to look at the trees. I notice large brown pods hanging from the branches, but they're too far up to reach, so I keep walking until I get to a large pond. I'm surprised by how clear it is, since most of the water I've seen hasn't even come close to being this pure, so I figure it will be safe to drink from. I get down on my hands and knees to put my head in the water. The water's really cool compared to the moist, hot atmosphere of the jungle.

When I lift my head and brush my sleeves against my eyelids to absorb the water I see a cat staring at me from across the pond. I recognize her black fur and white paws: It's Stormy. Her sickly pale green eyes stare intensely into mine, and I start to get the same uncomfortable feeling from before, like I'm looking at a human instead of a cat. She stares at me for what feels like an hour, then turns around and walks away. Getting over my surprise quickly, I stand up and run after her. There's absolutely no way I'm letting her go. No one will stare at you like that unless they expect something from you. I need to know how she's involved with this.

Even though I'm determined to follow her, it's hard to see where she's going in this dense jungle. The vines and trees block my view, so when I think I'm going the right way I'm actually lost, then I hear something rustle in the bushes behind me and turn to see Stormy run off again as fast as a bullet. Another problem is her size. She's a tiny cat, of course that's partly because she's a kitten, but that makes it hard to keep up. Though it almost seems like she's letting me follow her on purpose.

After hours of running I notice her slow down. Unlike me, she doesn't look at all exhausted. Then she stops. I try to keep running because I'm still considerably behind, and I know I need to catch up to her, but I get clumsy trip again. When I look up I see Stormy only three feet in front of me. I stand and brush myself off, feeling tired. The jungle is dark now, and I can't see well. It's been a short day.

"That was completely pointless, don't you think?" I ask her, annoyed, and realize that sounded very much like a threat. Stormy glares at me.

"Neo." she says, and it almost sounds like a 'no'. I look at her more closely to see a small, humanoid form looking back at me. She crosses her arms and laughs. "You never expected that, nya?" She asks me mockingly. I stare at her. How could that even be possible, I wonder. She stretches, looks at her hands, and mumbles something: "This human form is so different. How am I supposed to keep my balance with only two legs?"

"You get used to it." I say, not knowing how to react, then add as an after thought: "It's also customary for humans to wear clothes." She stares at me, surprised.

"You...you're a strange human, to not be afraid. Ender used to tell me humans were probably cowardly creatures." she says, completely ignoring my advise. Then, without warning, she punches me in the jaw.

* * *

Stormy watched as the human girl fell to the ground. She was surprised, not only by Willow's reaction, but also how long Willow had chased after her. Stormy hadn't known what to expect from Willow when she first saw her, and when the void that lead them back to minecraft suddenly appeared Stormy had been shocked. She didn't think it was even possible to get back after going through the end portal, but then suddenly she's back. She was glad, but she wondered how it was possible. She fully intended to interrogate the girl when she woke up.

Behind Stormy a dark figured suddenly materialized. It was a tall man, with jet black hair and almost white, light purple eyes. His skin was tainted a slight purple color, though the night made it look a few shades darker. He looked from Stormy's face to Willow, then at Stormy again.

"Welcome back Shadow." he greeted her using her previous name. His voice was quiet and calm, like the wind. Stormy thought for a minute or so, wondering which name she liked better.

"Stormy, actually." she said, looking up at him, "Can we stay with you for a while?" Ender looked mildly surprised and amused when asked this question. Shadow, or Stormy as she now called herself, didn't make friends so easily. She seemed different now though, to be acting with such a calm demeanor. Ender wondered why.

"Yes, until you make your own house." he said, remembering what it was like to live with the normally hyperactive cat from before. It seems she has changed, Ender reasoned, _perhaps there will be less to worry about_. He had no idea of how mistaken he was.

They were about to leave when Stormy thought of something.

"By the way, do you have any extra clothes I could borrow?" she asked Ender. He glanced back at her.

"Yes." he said, "They won't fit you though." Then he teleported away. Stormy groaned. After a minute of hesitation she grabbed Willows arm and drug her along the ground behind her, resulting in a number of bruises on Willow's head and a large gash along the outside of her forearm.


	4. I'm not actually grumpy

I wake up to the sound of dishes clattering and the smell of fish. My stomach hurts, but I assume it's because I'm hungry. My head throbs as I try to sit up and, on the second try, I'm able to. For some reason I feel worse than yesterday, and my whole body aches. I sit and until the feeling wears off, meanwhile trying to figure out where I am. I'm in what looks like a living room, and what I'm sitting on now is a very long couch, raised higher above the floor than any I've ever seen. In front of it is a narrow wooden table, which is almost as long as the couch, and on it are several carefully placed piles of books. The walls are mostly hidden behind bookshelves filled neatly with more books. What I find most interesting is the high ceiling. You'd think a miniature giant lived here.

I stand up slowly, almost having to jump off the couch, and hold my head. Only then do I notice that it's wrapped in bandages. I look down at the carpeted desert colored floor, to noticed that my shoes and socks are missing. I scan the well-organized room for them, but they aren't in sight. I am impressed by how neat everything is though. After a few seconds I start to get the feeling that someone's behind me. I stay where I am, pretending I'm completely unaware of their presence, until I hear them jumping over the back of the couch. I spin around and pin the person down with both arms, only to realize after a jolt of pain one is injured. A small girl with black hair that's dyed white at the bottom, light green eyes, and apparently the assailant, looks back at me with fear in her eyes. I let go and back away from her, confused, and in the process I bump into the table, knocking over a large pile of books. I clear my throat.

"Don't do that again," I tell her as she cautiously gets up. Then I walk around the table to return the books to their original positions. I look back up at her after having a thought occur to me, but by then she's running into another room. She's stopped, however, when she bumps into a very tall guy with dark hair coming out of the room, which I realize is probably a kitchen, wearing an apron. A _fluffy pink_ apron. I take one look at him before turning around and covering my mouth to prevent myself from laughing. When I turn back to face him the apron is gone, and he seems to glare slightly at Stormy for a second. I notice that he's tall, very tall, and suddenly understand why the ceiling is so high.

The guy walks over to me, looking a bit concerned, and I begin to feel short. Of course, I've always been short for my age. At about 5 feet tall, even a few sixth graders are taller than me. Until I was 10 it was my goal in life to be 6 feet tall, but then I realized that being short had its advantages as well. For example, people are more likely to underestimate you because you look small, and you can fit into smaller spaces, so it can be easier to hide depending on the situation. Sometimes I still regret being short though, mainly when people have to look down at me. This person, or guy, reaches over to touch my forehead, and I back away.

"Ender," the girl says, now facing me, "I think you're scaring her."

Ender doesn't respond; he just leaves the room. I look back at the girl, wondering if his feelings were hurt. It didn't really look like it though. The girl stands in the kitchen doorway, giving me a smirk that implies she's planning my death. The thought that occurred to me before comes back, and I find myself looking carefully at her eyes. A memory comes back to me. My parents bought a cat with the same eyes.

"Stormy?" I say before Ender comes back with some bandages. I watch as Ender sets them on the table, and slowly back away, hoping they won't notice. Looking at the girl, though, I realize she's still watching me. She grins.

"Where am I?" I ask instead. Ender glances up at me briefly before continuing to unroll some bandages.

"Where does it look like," the strange girl replies sarcastically, "a cave?" I stare at her, wondering if that was a really bad joke or if it was the first thing that came to her mind.

"You're in my cottage." Ender says with a soft voice, "Stormy brought you here." This confuses me, and it must have shown because Stormy stops pretending to plot my demise and a look of realization washes over her face. Suddenly she looks guilty of something.

"Did she?" I say cautiously, trying to remember the previous day, "I don't even remember getting here, wherever this is, and the last time I checked Stormy was a cat." My voice starts to get smaller toward the end, until I'm mumbling almost, like it usually does when I talk too much around people I'm not yet used to.

"Actually," Stormy says slowly, "That would be the last time you _remember, _but don't worry about it." Ender looks up at her while she's saying this, though he doesn't say anything. I glare at her.

"I better not have any kind of permanent brain damage." I warn threateningly. She smirks and backs away slowly. Then Ender interrupts.

"I'm sure your memory will be back eventually." He glances at Stormy afterwards.

"Where are we anyway?" I ask, deciding to use this time to collect information instead of arguing.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Stormy asks me. I'm ready to strangle some one when Ender interrupts us both.

"We are in the Minecraft universe. That's what it's called in your world." he explains calmly, "There's no name for it here. Do you have any other questions?"

"How did I get here? To this world." I ask, specifying I mean this world and not the cottage.

"Oh, oh," Stormy jumps up and down waving her arms, "This void appea..." Stormy starts to shout excitedly, but Ender interrupts her.

"Stormy brought you here." he says. Stormy looks at him, confused.

"Why?" They exchange looks as soon as I ask.

"We'll get to that later." Stormy says, actually serious this time.

"Fine," I say, suspicious, but I'm willing to let it go. "Why doesn't this wor...universe have a name here?"

"We've never had a reason to give it one." Ender answers.

"'We'" I repeat, "there are others here?" I ask. Stormy shoots me a "that's obvious" look.

"There are, but think about that later. Your arm's hurt. I need to replace your bandages." he says, waiting for a response.

I relax a bit when I realize neither Ender nor Stormy want to hurt me, though Stormy could be up to something. Her smirk quickly disappears when she sees me looking at her. I glance over at the bandages on the table. They're really trying to help me, but for some reason that scares me as much as the idea of them wanting to kill me or something. When I was younger it was fine if some one helped me out, but now I prefer to avoid people. It's more than that though. It makes me uncomfortable when people are nice to me. It's strange.

"I can take care of myself." I say, taking the old bandages off my arm.

Ender looks at me for a second before nodding his head and going back to the kitchen. He drags Stormy with him and she complains. I sit back down on the couch to check my wound. It looks... bad, and it hurts. The cut runs along the outside of my forearm. I re-bandage it with the new cloth, wondering how I got the wound. I think back to the other day, my memory slowly coming back, as well as the conversation I had with Stormy. She was wasn't as hyper yesterday. I smell the fish again, and suddenly I feel very hungry. I get up and walk into the kitchen to find stormy trying to steal a fish while Ender cooks.

"Stormy." Ender says in the same soft voice he was using before, only a little louder.

Stormy takes her hand away from the fish and pouts. It reminds me of the way my younger brother pouted when he found out Stormy wasn't a boy. I smile, just a little. Stormy goes to sit at the table but catches me out of the corner of her eye. She notices me smiling.

"Well look who decided to join us." She teases, "Ms. I'm-too-grumpy-to-not-be-serious." I can't help but smirk at that.

"That's got to be the worst joke I've ever heard." I say, leaning against the wall.

"It wasn't a joke," she corrects me, "it's a fact."

"Yeah, well it sounds more like an opinion to me." I contradict, copying the sound of her voice. She smirks.

"Is that a challenge?" she asks mischievously. What's she up to?

"Yes," I say before adding, "in your opinion." She gives me a look that I'm guessing means "oh, it's on", but before she can say anything Ender puts two plates of fish on the table. Stormy suddenly forgets about the challenge and dives into her food. Literally. I almost laugh at her, but I don't want to interrupt her meal. Wondering what time it is, I look out the window in front of the table to see that it's dusk, so this is diner. I look back at the table to see Ender watching me. He must have sat down while I was looking at the sky. I sit down in the only empty chair.

I poke at my food for a while with my fork, which was next to the plate. I feel so strange, sitting here with these people I don't even know. Besides, it occurs to me, how was I able to talk to Stormy so easily before? I feel so out of character, but is that a bad thing? I know it would be better for me to relax a bit, but if I do I might relax too much. Then when I get back home I'll be back in the suburb where I can't be all bubbly and happy because my parents would notice, and I'd have to stay home then because I wouldn't want to wander around the town any more. Then I'd be stuck with a dumb free loader. I take a deep breath, completely aware of how often I do that to calm down. I've already decided to forgive him. There's no point in thinking about it, but just because I forgive him doesn't mean I have to accept him as a... family member. Someday, I'll be able to admit it to myself though.

I glance at the people in front of me. Ender is looking at me, and hasn't even started eating yet, but Stormy is almost finished. These people aren't my family. I may not see my family again, or even get back. Briefly, I wonder what it is I want to go back to, but I quickly put the thought out of my mind. I have a responsibility, as the oldest child, to take care of Archie and Xia. Even though I hate responsibility. I have to find a way back. For now though, I need to focus on the things I can learn here. It's amazing. I've never really seen the ocean before, there are so many trees, the sea, the clear water, the clean air, and even the sky seems clearer. I haven't been around nature for a long time. I also need to find out how I got here, and why I'm here, I remind myself. My mind is easily distracted when I let my guard down.

"Is something wrong, Willow?" Ender asks, noticing I haven't eaten my food yet. I shake my head and taste some of the fish.

"Thanks," I say quietly, swinging my legs back and forth slightly, "for helping me." I don't understand why it's so hard just to say 'thank you'.

We're silent for a while. Even Stormy stopped eating. Surprisingly, she was the one who spoke first.

"Don't worry about it. We'll always be there for you." she says, not realizing how cheesy that sounded. I want to say something back but I don't know what to say, so I ask Ender something.

"How did you know my name?" I ask him.

"Stormy told me." he says before eating the rest of his fish.

We don't say much for the rest of the night until Stormy starts talking about tomorrow's plan.

"So tomorrow we'll get up at the break of dawn..." she starts to say. By now I'm half asleep, and her words blend together when I don't focus on them. Ender sees me and tells me I can sleep on the couch again. I'm too tired to say anything so I walk over to the couch and collapse. Soon enough I fall asleep, and I can't even hear the sounds of their voices.

* * *

Ender watched as the girl, Willow, began to fall asleep at the table. She looked tired enough to fall over.

"Willow," Ender said, getting Willow's attention, "You can sleep on the couch again, if you're tired." Willow nodded sleepily and walked out of the room. Ender stood and gathered the plates. He washed and put them away while Stormy continued to describe the schedule, though Ender wasn't listening. It seemed that, despite her attitude the day before, Stormy hadn't changed as much as Ender had thought, if at all. Oddly enough, Ender found himself feeling glad she was back despite that. He realized it was because he actually enjoyed having more people around, for he often got lonely being alone all the time.

"How did you manage to get back?" Ender asked Stormy in his usual quiet voice when she had stopped talking. Stormy didn't seem to have heard him at first, but then she turned around to face him. During her speech she had been walking about, and had stopped to think. At that point she was facing away from him.

"I don't know, but it was weird. Suddenly the void appeared beneath us, and I was going to ask Willow about that." she said, frustrated at the last part. She had completely forgotten to do that. She sighed, disappointed and suddenly tired. Ender watched as she began to sway back and forth, and was about to tell her where she could sleep when she fell over. He hesitated, considering his options. He was tempted to just leave her there. Being an enderman, he didn't like being too close to people. He walked over to her, picked her up, teleported over to the couch in the living room, and dropped her onto it. He teleported away again to return with blankets, and after covering both guests with one he left to visit a nearby plains biome.


	5. I can punch down trees

_Water, water._ I hear someone singing. _Water, water, shh, shh._ I look around. I'm on the beach again, but the island looks different. _Crash, crash goes the water._ I turn my head to the ocean. That's where the music is coming from. There's a girl playing in the water, but she has her back to me. I stand up, surprised and wondering how long it will take her to notice me. She's about as tall as me, with dark blue hair and skin that looks almost like the color of the ocean. She wears a matching blue blouse and shorts. I walk a bit closer to her while she continues to sing.

"Hmmm, I'd be more fun if there were someone to play with me." She seems kind of sad.

* * *

"All right Willow!" Someone yells. My dream fades like the tide. "Time for training!"

My blanket is yanked out from under me and I fall on the floor. I get up, though my head still hurts almost as bad as it did yesterday. Stormy' s standing in front of me, and she looks like she's full of energy. That can't be good.

"It's morning, finally," she says, "so here's the plan..."

Apparently I have a lot to do today. Stormy goes on and on about the plans until Ender comes in.

"Breakfast is ready." he says before going back to the kitchen. This effectively distracts Stormy.

"Breakfast yay!" she shouts before running into the kitchen.

I sigh and follow them. When I enter the kitchen I smell bacon. I like bacon. Like last night, there are 3 plates on the table, and they all have bacon and ham. I sit down with Ender and Stormy and start eating.

I know this is probably the best time to start asking questions. I look at Ender, who's still eating, and Stormy. She just finished. If I don't ask now I might not get a chance to.

"So..." I start. They stare at me. "How do I get back... to my world?" I add the last part when I realize they may not know exactly what I mean. Stormy takes a deep breath.

"There's only one way to get back to Earth, but I'm not sure if it will work for you." She says hesitantly. I try to make sense of that before realizing I can't.

"It might work." Ender says after a long silence. I look at him.

"Oh, yeah." Stormy seems to remember something. "There's that Notch guy and Herobrine person."

"They're brothers." Ender adds when he sees my confused expression.

"And they kind of rule the minecraft universe, well, Notch does." That was Stormy.

I'm about to ask another question when Stormy gets up and says I should finish my food.

"We have a lot to do today, considering you're such a noob." she says when I finish eating and we're going back to the jungle. What is a noob anyway?

We walk through the jungle until we get back to the beach. Then Stormy shows me how to collect wood and build things. I find it a bit strange when I punch a tree and it falls down in blocks. Wait, they told me my world called this place "minecraft". I remember hearing some of the kids at my school talking about this "really fun game" called minecraft. So that would mean I'm in a video game. I stop punching trees when I realize this. My hands are sore, so I can't be dreaming.

"Hey Willow!" Stormy shouts from the beach, "That's enough wood for now. It's time to start crafting."

I collect the rest of the wood, which floats near me before disappearing. Stormy had told me this was because it was stored in my inventory, but it still doesn't make sense to me. Maybe it would if I had played the game. Whatever. I walk over to Stormy and she shows me how to use my inventory. I raise my hand and imagine it appearing like she had described it, and it's there when I open my eyes.

"Wow, I've never seen one like that before." she says when she sees my inventory interface. I smile. I didn't really imagine it _exactly_ like she had described. She had described it as being blue with little lighter colored boxes, above that were a few other boxes for crafting, and to the left of that was a model of the person with four more boxes surrounding it, which was kind of vague. Then she showed me her inventory. Mine was a dark brown, like the bark of the trees. The boxes were green like the leaves, but the thing that probably surprised her the most were the textures I had given it. The brown actually looked like bark and the green like leaves. I look at the top left corner and see something I hadn't imagined. I had meant to leave the model out because I didn't need it, but it was still there. It looked exactly like me, but smaller, with pale skin, short, messy brown hair, and light blue, almost grey eyes.

"So..." I say to get her attention, "how do I craft things?"

She looks at me and shakes her head, then looks back at my inventory and points to the wood I had gathered.

"You see that number?" she asks, pointing to a small number in the bottom right corner of the box. I nod, it was 64. "Good. That tells you how many blocks you have. Most blocks will stack up to 64 before starting a new stack." She explains that some of the blocks have a lower maximum stack size, and she hasn't come across any that have a higher one. Then she shows me how to turn wood into wooden planks and make a crafting table. Once I do that she tells me how to take things out of my inventory and place them where I want them.

This goes on until afternoon, when I get hungry. By now I've learned how to craft and place things, and I had started building a small house. Stormy went back to napping in the sun after explaining everything to me. She looks happy now, sleeping on the beach. She reminds me of Adeline, one of the cats I take care of, or, took care of. Up until a day ago, I took care of a small group of abandoned cats who lived in one of the alleys I passed on my way to and from school. I'd bring them food everyday, and water when they needed it. I was happy to take care of them, mostly because I didn't have anything better to do, and I felt sorry for them.

I sit down on the wooden planks as I realize I'm feeling homesickness, which I had never thought I could feel. I was there because I had to be, not because I wanted to be. Mom and Dad are probably worried about me though. Xia probably isn't worried yet, but after a few more days she might be. Archibold, my younger brother, would be wondering where I am, and by now I'm sure he's curious. Actually, they're probably all worried. At least I don't have any close friends at school anymore. My two best friends moved away over a month ago when their parents got different jobs. The cats, though, I was taking care of them. I hope they're ok. Unless... maybe time moves differently here! I'll just go with that. Worrying isn't going to help me at all, and I don't know about the time displacement here. I can't assume anything, but I can hope for that.

I stand up again and look around. There aren't any cows, or anything I can eat. I turn around and look at the ocean, then at Stormy, who's still napping. I walk over to the water and take my shoes off. I barely touch the water with my toe before pulling back quickly and backing away. The water feels cold and wet, and it annoys me. I wade into the water hesitantly though, and once it's up to my waist I start looking for fish. The tide pushes and pulls at me as I stand there until finally I give up and start to walk back to land, cheering up with the idea of drying off.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry, I forgot I'd already named Willow's younger brother. That must be confusing. Willow can now swim, so the next chapters should make sense since she ends up swimming. If anyone has any interesting mods they think could fit in the story feel free to p.m me or write a review.**


	6. Zombie Siege

Just as I'm about to reach the beach I hear something move in the water behind me. I turn around and see a girl that looks almost exactly like the one I saw in my dream. She has the same dark blue hair and bluish water-like skin. I stare at her with a blank face, wondering what she is. Her eyes, which I hadn't seen, are both blue, but one is lighter than the other. She holds out her hand and offers me a fish.

Suddenly something comes flying out of nowhere and tackles the girl, knocking me over in the process. I get up and look down to see Stormy, who's now panicking and trying to get out of the water as fast as possible, yet unaware she's not getting any closer or farther away from the beach. I'd be laughing at this if I weren't being splashed in the face by a hysterical cat, who happens to be a person as well. I pick Stormy up and haul her out of the water, accumulating many scratches along the way. Maybe this wasn't such a great idea. Stormy may be really small, somewhere around 3 ½ feet, but she's stronger than you would think. By the time I get Stormy out of the water the girl had disappeared, and I regret not immediately asking her who she was. I look at my scratches, then at Stormy, who's coughing too much to stand up.

"What was that about?" I ask her once she gets up.

"It was a squid," she says defensively, "and it had a fish. Squid tastes better than fish."

"_She_," I emphasize, "was in the water. Why on Earth would you jump into the water if it terrifies you?" I ask, frustrated. I'd seen the girl in my dream. I at least wanted to know why! Who was she, and why did she try to help me? I sigh. At least I know what she is now.

"I don't know! I was hungry and I wasn't really thinking about it." she says, her last sentence barely audible. Then she seems to cheer up. "Let's go back to Ender. Maybe he has fish!" she exclaims before grabbing my arm and pulling me along with her.

When we get back to the cottage we see Ender standing outside, holding a plate of fish just like Stormy had predicted. _He must have some kind of telepathic power_, I joke to myself. Stormy runs over to him and takes the plate. As I suspected, the fish don't last long, but seeing her eat makes me hungry. My stomach growls. Ender looks at me before going inside, and after a few minutes he comes back with a plate of ham, which he hands to me. I take it and thank him, but I'm not sure he heard me. My family isn't like this, so why is he?

"How did it go?" Ender asks me while I eat. Unfortunately I'm chewing at that moment, so I don't answer him immediately. This is what usually happens when people talk to me while I'm eating. I'm about to answer when stormy, who had finished her fish, tells him about my inventory. I wasn't going to say anything about that. He nods, but doesn't look too surprised.

"Can I see it?" he asks when I finish eating. For a second I wonder why he decided to wait until I finished eating this time. I nod and bring up my inventory, which he looks at and smiles.

"That is a bit unusual, but not surprising. It's based on your level of imagination. If you visualize it well enough, you can make the interface look like whatever you want it to. It seems to be a bit more common among endermen though." he says thoughtfully in his usual quiet voice.

Then he brings up his own inventory, which looks a bit more impressive than mine. A bit. Stormy just stares at it, amazed.

"You can change its appearance as many times as you want." he says before closing his inventory and going back inside.

When we get back to the beach I punch down some more trees, which I think is really cool aside from the fact it hurts. I wouldn't admit any of that to anyone though. Then I go back to working on my house. It's going to be smaller than Ender's cottage because it's temporary, but for some reason I want it to look something like his house. I'm not really sure why, but there's something about all the bookcases and neatly stacked piles of books that makes me feel at home. Not like it really matters or anything. Come to think of it, what is Ender anyway. "Ender". "Enderman". He did say something about endermen. What are endermen?

I turn around to look at Stormy, who's playing with her inventory. She keeps changing the colors until finally she just closes it again. When it appears again it looks like the setting sun with an orange sunset. She smiles. I walk over to her and ask her about endermen. She looks at me for a moment before answering.

"Endermen," she repeats, processing what I said, "they originally come from the End. There are a bunch here though, they're really shy and only come out at night..." she continues the explanation, but with a sleepy voice.

"What about Ender." I say when she finishes her explanation, "Is he an enderman?"

Stormy looks at me for a second before seeming to realize something.

"That's right. You haven't been here long enough to know that. He is, and, according to enderman standards, he's also very social. You'll learn more about the mobs here tomorrow." she says before closing her inventory, stretching, and going back to sleep. I'd ask her another question, but she sounds really tired, so I go back to building my house instead.

I don't know what to think about this world. It's a lot different from mine, but it's so much more interesting. And... I seem to have friends. Maybe. Maybe they're more like my family than I think right now, but that's, well, complicated. I get this strange feeling when I think of them now. Guilt? That might be it. Then there are the kids at school, but I don't miss them too much. Of course there are some I wish I could talk to, and then there are my friends, but they moved away. Before we moved though, things were different.

By the time I finish my house it's already starting to get dark. My house doesn't look the way I wanted it to, but it will work. Basically, it just looks like a large wooden box with block shaped holes in the side for windows. It has a door too. I'm glad Stormy showed me how to make them before she passed out. I look back at the tree stump she had been sleeping next to. She's back to being a cat again, and when I walk over to her she's still asleep. I look back at the horizon, then at the jungle. Knowing my sense of direction, we'll be permanently lost if I try to take Stormy back to Ender's house. Let's see... I could wait for her to wake up, but it's getting kind of cold. I look at the wooden box I built. That could work.

I pick up Stormy and carry her into my temporary house. It's really dark, but at least there's nothing to trip over. I put Stormy on the floor, away from the windows. I sit next to the door, just a few feet away, in case one of the mobs Stormy mentioned decides to try to get in. I doubt all the mobs are friendly like Stormy and Ender, and that other girl. I wonder where she went. She was probably really annoyed after Stormy attacked her.

As I fall asleep, I think of the lesson we were going to have in history. I was supposed to be learning about World War 1 this week. I already know a bit about it though, like how it was the "war to end all wars", but all it really did was start another one. In World War 2 Wilson's 14 points were also pretty much ignored. I sigh. I'm going to have a lot of homework if that time displacement doesn't exist. What if I never get back though, and how do I rationalize a portal randomly appearing in my bathroom and bringing me here? I decide to ask Stormy about it in the morning. Maybe she caused it.


	7. A zombie named Fluffy

**A/N: Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I couldn't think of anything to write. I guess my mind got lazy. Anyway, I hope you like rotting flesh and zombies. :) I had fun describing the zombies, errr, _zombie_. I only really wrote much about one.**

**Also, reviews are appreciated.**

I wake up soon after falling asleep. My eyes adjusted to the dark while I was sleeping, so I can see that Stormy is still resting where I left her. Suddenly I hear something groan outside the door. It sounds like it came out of one of those zombie movies, but that can't be right. I peek out the window, and immediately wishing I hadn't, duck below it.

I slowly back away from the door, toward one of the corners of the small house, staying close to the ground so I won't be seen. There's something out there, I just don't want to believe they're what they look like. As soon as I get to the corner something starts banging violently at the door. Apparently whoever is out there doesn't care much for door knobs. I look around for my crafting table, thinking maybe I could make a sword, but then realize I left it outside. _I shouldn't have done that_, _stupid_, I think, getting upset at myself. The door cracks, and I try to think of something quickly. I need to get away from here. I run over to Stormy as quietly as I can and pick her up. Then I mine away a block near the floor and crawl out onto the sand. I look back through the hole at the door to see what was trying to break in. That was a mistake. I stand there looking at it for a second, in shock and disgust. Its rotting flesh hangs loosely from its face, which, thankfully, is all I can see because of the door. The lack of skin exposes the maggots that are nesting there. They borrow in and out of the muscle tissue. Then there are the eyes. One of them is hanging out of the socket. The other is, well, decomposing, and it looks gross. I start to feel nauseous. Usually, when I look at something, I don't feel sick, no matter how bad it appears. I look away and turn to my left to see a group of zombies blocking my escape. I back up a few steps and look to my right. More zombies, but I expected that. I pull up my inventory again. It doesn't look fancy this time, but that doesn't matter. I quickly craft some sticks with the wooden planks I have left. Holding one of the sticks like a sword, I close my inventory and look back at the zombies. They don't look _as__ bad_ as the first one, but they smell. horribly.

" Val...ky...rie." I turn to my left again to see where the hatred filled voice came from. It was leader-zombie-guy. His voice barely works anymore, and he's mostly growling, though there's a sort of gurgling sound too. He pushes his way past the others until he's standing a few feet away from me. He glares at me, which looks really gross, then points at me angrily before growling some more. Whoever he thinks I am, he must really, really not like me. The other zombies start closing in, and I now realize that my "sword" isn't going to help me much, considering it doesn't scare them. I almost laugh, but remember how bad this is. _I could fight them with martial arts_, I consider, _but I don't like the idea of touching zombie goo._

There is not even a chance I'm going to let myself get killed though, so if I don't fight my only other option would be to run away. My only unblocked path is, however, the ocean. Making up my mind, I hit one of the zombies in the head with my stick. He's stunned for a few seconds, and the stick broke. I turn around and run into the ocean, which is the only direction they didn't block. If Stormy wakes up right now though, I'm doomed. I swim further and further away from the shore, trying to ignore the zombies' angry growls and the feeling of the water. I don't look back.

I swim as far as I can, but after a while my muscles start to ache and I get impatient, and carrying a cat in my mouth makes me want to gag. I growl, asking myself why I never tried to learn how to swim better. The wind picks up and I realize there's going to be a storm soon. That's such great timing. _Perfect timing, actually_, a thought with a distorted voice interrupts me. I push the worry that voice causes to the back of my mind, trying to ignore it and refocusing on swimming. I really hope there's an island nearby. _At least it won't be the zombies that kill us - it'll be the ocean_, the distorted voice rationalizes for me. I ignore it. I don't want to die. I _won't_ die. If I drown so does Stormy, and I don't want to be responsible for her death. Besides, she did help me. She may have saved me too, in a way, but that's debatable. It's possibly also her fault I'm here.

I'm interrupted from my thoughts when a wave splashes over my head, causing me to breathe in some water before emerging above the waves and coughing violently. By now it's raining. I think back to when I was surrounded by zombies, realizing how strange this is. There must have been a really sudden change in weather, because the skies were perfectly clear earlier. When another wave pushes me below the water I begin to lose my patience. Not only do the zombies attack us, but now a freak storm suddenly appears. Why on earth did those zombies attack me anyway? I've only been here three days.

Thunder lights up the ocean and I hear lightning in the distance. Without knowing it at first, I end up hoping it hit the zombie. I look up suddenly when I notice I'm rising. Looking up I see a wave that could even sink a large boat, and after realize I can't do anything to stop it from crashing over my head I panick. _It's not _exactly_ the ending I had in mind_, is the last thing I hear from the voice before the wave falls.

* * *

Ender walked up the stone stairway that led to his basement. He knew Stormy and Willow would be back soon, and he didn't want them finding his hidden basement. When he got to the living room he pulled down the lever that hid the basement's stairway. The lever was then hidden behind a book called _Migration of the Squids_. Ender had personally removed the backboard of the bookshelf so the lever could be hidden behind it, then covered up by the mysteriously thick book that no one ever seemed to notice. It was very convenient.

It wasn't until he got to the kitchen that he noticed it was night-time. For a second Ender wondered if Stormy and Willow were already back, but he knew that was too good to be true. Stormy wasn't capable of being that quiet. Then he realized that Stormy might have changed back to a cat. Most of the mobs could turn into humans, but doing so required a lot of energy, so they could only remain "human" for a certain amount of time. Stormy was still a kitten. That meant she wouldn't be able to maintain her human form for very long, and it was also possible that she would be very tired.

Ender teleported to the beach where Stormy had told him she would have Willow build a house. The cat had become very fond of the human in Ender's opinion. He looked around, and it didn't take long to find the house. It looked like a giant box had washed up on the beach. It's door had even been destroyed. Ender teleported over to it, even though it wasn't very far away. Endermen seemed to like teleporting, and this was true for Ender as well, but since he didn't want to scare Willow, he walked when around her. She wasn't here now though, and neither was Stormy.

He bent down to examine the door. He decided it was probably the work of a zombie. Looking around the house, he noticed some one had mined a block near the floor in one corner. It led behind the house, next to the ocean, so he teleported there. Footprints. The first thing he noticed were the footprints. One pair of them ran into the ocean. Then he saw a broken stick lying on the ground. There was some blood on it. It didn't take Ender long to come up with a theory.

There had been a zombie siege. Willow woke up and mined a block from the wall so she could get out. The zombies had surrounded her once she was on the beach, and she had tried to fight them with a stick, but it broke, so she ran out into the ocean. Ender took note of this. If what he knew was correct, it was safe to assume this wasn't the first time she had done that.

He looked for Stormy next. He had already checked the house, so she wasn't in there. As Ender searched the beach it started to rain. He looked up and wasn't too surprised to see the sky covered in clouds. The weather could change quickly. Ender searched a while longer, but didn't find Stormy. He assumed Willow took the cat with her. It was raining harder now, and the wind was stronger. Lightning flashed across the darkened sky. Ender was about to teleport home when he heard something growl behind him. He turned around to see the zombie he liked to call Fluffy. Fluffy was not fluffy.

Fluffy looked at the enderman and growled, showing off the few rotting teeth he had left. He then began to say something unintelligible, and then he growled again. Ender could tell that Fluffy was in a bad mood.

" Are the maggots bothering you again?" Ender asked, his voice a louder than usual so he could be heard over the wind. The zombie tried to growl louder, and angrier, this time, but his lungs were obviously failing him. He soon gave up and changed into a human. Fluffy was one of the very few zombies that were capable of that.

" You're helping her. She's back and you're helping her!" The human-zombie yelled. His anger was shown in his orange eyes. Ender stared calmly at Fluffy before responding.

" There's nothing wrong with helping _Willow_." He told the zombie, making sure Fluffy heard the girl's name. Ender was rather annoyed now, but he stayed calm. He didn't like people who lost their temper easily.

" Willow," the zombie repeated her name as if it were a terrible curse, "that's not a _Willow_!" He roared, now furious. "That is _Valkyrie_. She's the girl who killed me!" Fluffy started coughing as soon as he said "me". Ender watched him for a moment, then decided to try to reason with him.

" Valkyrie existed 400 years ago. How would she be here now?" He said, hoping that in human form, Fluffy would be a bit more intelligent, since his brain wasn't rotting, but not too intelligent.

" She could be a zombie." Fluffy growled.

" She reached the End."

" She could have died there and become a zombie."

" She didn't die. She made it through the portal, and no, that does **not** make you a zombie." Ender interrupted Fluffy before he could say anything. It was raining even harder now, and the wind was very loud. Ender and Fluffy were both yelling to be heard over the noise. The difference was that Ender was still calm, Fluffy was not. He was rarely, if ever, calm.

" Well..." Fluffy thought to come up with something, but didn't know how to prove his point. That girl, _Willow_, she _was_ Valkyrie. He knew she was. Fluffy never forgot her face. It was his meaning in the undead life he had, the reason he was a zombie in the first place. No matter what happened, he would make sure that accursed girl died a horrible, painful death.

"If she ran out into the ocean, she will be dead by now." Ender yelled over the wind and rain. If Fluffy couldn't be convinced that Willow was not Valkyrie, maybe he could believe she was dead. Fluffy looked up at Ender and glared.

" No, she wouldn't be. The kraken will save her, she always does." Fluffy growled one more time before changing back to his zombie form and slowly limping away. Ender briefly wondered why Fluffy preferred that form, since it was so inconvenient. Neither of them had much time to think before a bolt of lightning suddenly struck Fluffy. He fell over, dead, and his clothes were burning. Ender stared at him for a moment before teleporting home. The jungle wasn't going to catch fire: It was raining. Other than that, Fluffy had already died once.


	8. Cordelia and Eve

When I open my eyes I see an ocean below me. Beneath the water a skeleton makes its way to a large group of zombies and other skeletons, which are surrounding a tower. Something leads my eyes to the top of it, where I see Stormy in her human form and another girl fighting off monsters like the ones at the base of the tower. I try to get closer, wanting to get a better look at the other girl who looks familiar, but I can't move. I'm not even breathing. In front of me is a girl I recognize at first as my sister.

" No. I..." she pauses, " we, could be called Willow, or Valkyrie, or even Eztli."

* * *

" Wake up... course... remember." I barely hear someone say. Something wet falls on my face. I think it's raining until I open my eyes to see water leaking through a stone ceiling. This must be some sort of ca... wait a second. There aren't any cracks in the stone, so the water shouldn't be able to leak through. How on earth... nevermind.

I sit up slowly once I give up on trying to remember my dream. The voices, which were talking about how this person killed 300 or so zombies by herself in one night, stop, and I hear footsteps coming toward me. Looking to my left I see them. The older one walks over to me with the younger girl close behind. I stare at the kid, surprised, until the older one says something.

" I'm glad to see you're awake," she says in a concerned tone of voice, " Do you remember everything?" She has dark blue eyes and even darker, knee-length hair. She kneels down next to me and smiles. Her skin is like the younger girl's, but a bit less transparent.

" Yeah, and I'm fine." I say hesitantly, wondering why she asked such a strange question. I look at the younger girl. Stormy said she was a squid,and this other person must be also. They look so similar, so I think the one who spoke to me earlier is her mom. The girl stares at me silently. I'd try to back away, but the bed is set against a wall, so instead I look around the cave. The room is lit by some kind of glowing rock. There's only one way into the cave. Only one way out, and it's all the way across the room. The older girl stares at me with a worried expression.

"Who are you?" I ask, earning a surprised look from both of them.

"You don't remember me?" she asks disappointedly.

I start to feel guilty even though it's not my fault. I've never met her before. Turning my attention back to the squids I start to get nervous. I don't like it when people stare at me, and that's exactly what they're doing. Finally I get up and walk over to the entrance of the cave. What I see... definitely defies the logic I know. The exit is blocked by a wall of water. Through it I can see the ocean, and far above is the surface. I start to wonder how reasonable it is to hope Stormy is still alive. I hear footsteps behind me and turn around to see the youngest girl.

"Who are you?" she asks me, confused, but mostly annoyed.

"I could ask you the same thing." I say coldly. It wasn't how I meant to sound, but I have no intention of taking it back at the moment.

"I asked you first." she says in a now equally cold voice.

"I'm Willow Ryther. Thank you," I force myself to say, "for saving me. There was a cat with me. Have you seen her?"I keep the cold demeanor, since it's already there, to prevent myself from seeming too worried. The 'thank you' was difficult. I get the feeling I may have spoken too soon.

"Willow," the girl says angrily after glancing at her mom, who hadn't moved since I got up, "we mistook you for someone else. I have no reason to tell you anything."

Then she walks away, leaving me wondering if in this case I should've been nicer. That only lasts for a moment before I get annoyed at myself for speaking too soon. It's not my fault they thought I was someone else either. It is strange though, even those zombies thought I was Valkyrie. I take a few steps toward them and stop. The girl ignores me, but maybe she didn't hear me. Suddenly a part of me feels like apologizing.

"Who's Valkyrie." I ask, but no one answers. I'm about to try apologizing when the girl's mom stands up and walks over to me.

"You don't know who she is?" she asks. She stops once she's a few feet away. I hesitate for a few seconds, then shake my head.

"I've never heard of anyone named Valkyrie before, but... you're not the first to mistake me for her." I say cautiously, not sure how much I should tell her.

If I tell them the truth they might think I'm lying, but if I don't tell them enough they might get suspicious and leave me here. I don't want to swim, and I don't know if I could actually hold my breath long enough to get to the surface, but staying here could suffocate me. A distorted voice in my thoughts tells me I deserve it. I ignore that voice and look back at the older girl to realize I had been avoiding eye contact. That's one of the things I do sometimes when I get nervous or space out. I don't know how long I've been trying to get rid of that habit. The younger girl sighs in frustration and turns to look at me. I try to keep eye contact with her mom, wishing I would stop procrastinating and just ask them what their names are.

"That's because you are Valkyrie. There's no way I could forget your eyes, not even after 400 years." she says after studying me for a while.

_...we, could be called Valkyrie, or Willow, or even Eztli._ The thought briefly crosses my mind, and I take it to be from a dream. The kid looks from me to her mom. I can tell she's confused. I take a deep breath and try to decide how I should handle this. These people are strange, and I don't even know their names. That should be first. Secondly, I need to find Stormy, and if letting these people believe I'm someone I'm not is what it takes to find her that's what I'll do. Once I find Stormy, I can convince them I'm not Valkyrie, I hope, and get them to explain to me who she is. The most I know about her is that she goes on single-person massacres to kill zombies for entertainment, which she has a talent for, and that she was in one of my strange dreams. Obviously, I am not her.

"Maybe I am this person, maybe I'm not." I try not to lie. "Either way, I can't prove anything, and I still don't know what your names are." I say, then, realizing one of them may not have heard my name, I introduce myself again. This time I only say my first name, since I don't want to repeat my last name again. The older one nods.

"I heard you the first time. You seem to have forgotten, but the name given to me is Cordelia." she says, seeming a bit sad for a second, but that could be my imagination. Then she smiles. I think about this. It seems that, at the back of my mind, I might remember that name from somewhere. I may have met someone with that name at school, maybe.

"I go by Eve." Cordelia's daughter says, still a bit suspicious.

"Cordelia, Eve," I look at both of them as I say that, feeling a bit fake, "it's nice to meet you. When you saved me though, did you see a cat. Her fur is black and she has green eyes." Eve grimaces as soon as I mention Stormy, but Cordelia's expression is more serious.

"Eve didn't see a cat when she found you," she says after glancing at Eve, who quickly stops grimacing, "but that doesn't mean she's dead. There's a desert biome nearby."

"You can't go right now though," Eve adds, "it's night."

I turn around and look through the water at the sky. It's dark. I must have slept too long. For a second, I'm tempted to glare at the sky for not being bright any more, but then I feel childish for thinking that. It's not the sky's fault it's night.

"I should be going now." she thinks aloud before looking away from the sky so she can look at me, "You can stay here until morning. Then Eve will take you to the desert village so you can look for Stormy." she looks at Eve during the last sentence. Eve nods reluctantly and mumbles something that sounds like "fine".

Cordelia looks at me one last time before walking into the water. The moment she leaves the cave her form changes. Her skin turns a darker blue color, her body swells and grows, becoming at least 60 feet in length, and her legs split into eight large tentacles while her arms disappear. I stand there speechless, wondering if that really just happened, until she's gone. I turn to face Eve, who's staring at me with a smug smile on her face. That gets me annoyed again, and an idea comes to mind.

"You remind me of her, you know." I say, knowing that once she knows who I'm talking about her mood will be ruined. She looks curious now.

"You mean my mom?" she asks, seeming a bit proud of that comparison.

"I mean the cat, Stormy." I correct her. She glares at me, and I smirk. Then she seems to realize something.

"I don't have to help you. You should remember that." she says before turning away from me and walking back into the cave. I watch her as she walks toward the bed, lays on it, and goes to sleep. She seems tired, so I leave her alone and sit on the floor to think.

I'm not dead because Cordelia and Eve thought I was Valkyrie. I was out for the rest of the night and most of the day after I almost drowned, so why aren't I dead yet? If there were three people here the oxygen should have worn out already. And why are people calling me Valkyrie. I try to remember the bits of my dream I remembered before, but I can't. All I know is that my dream most likely mentioned Valkyrie. My destructive, distorted thoughts are a bit disturbing too, but I've always had a talent for ignoring myself. Anyway, I must look a lot like this Valkyrie person to be mistaken for her twice. I still don't know who she is, but at least I know what she looks like.

I bring up my inventory again and look at the model of myself. Short, unbrushed brown hair, pale skin gained from avoiding the sunlight, a black, short-sleeved shirt, a pair of baggy jeans, and black running shoes defined the model. I've always had a talent for running. What I focus on the most, though, are the eyes. _There's no way I could forget your eyes, not even after 400 years. _For some reason that embarrasses me. It must be the thought of some one actually saying they'd remember me that long. It wasn't me though - it was Valkyrie. A long time ago, Cordelia knew some one named Valkyrie, and it just happens I look similar to her. Memories change over time, so it's unlikely Cordelia remembers exactly what her friend looks like. 400 years is a bit of an exaggeration though.

The image seems to stare back at me, but instead of being nervous it doesn't bother me. My eyes are a light blue color, but I know they are often mistaken for grey. To me they look like ice when it's night. The image's expression is emotionless and cold, so I smile. It doesn't move. Starting to feel depressed again I touch my face, maybe thinking I would be able to feel my own expression. I don't know. Do I always look like that? The model imitates me this time, bringing its hand to its face as well. I notice that its eyes seem dead in a way, and cold. If they're my eyes, maybe that's why they constantly tell me I don't care about anyone. I glare at my image because I remembered that, and she glares back. Then I quickly close my inventory. There's a reason I don't like mirrors.


	9. From Desert Village to Battle Grounds

**A/N: Let's see...warnings for this chapter. There's some violence towards the end, and I'll probably add blood because I like horror. Don't worry though, none of the main characters die. It's just the zombies. There are dead villagers too, but they've been dead for a while now. I'm wondering who I should make the person who narrates the rest of the story apart from Willow. I'll probably just leave it as it is, but it's an idea.  
**

**I worked on Willow's personality a bit, as well as her family. I'm still working on her background though. I've been working on the plot line for my story too, so things should start getting more interesting from here. Valkyrie is in this chapter, see if you can find her. Also, I'm going to apologize to the people who are still reading this for taking so long to write this chapter. A combination of school, homework, after school activities that I carefully choose to participate in, and laziness have caused me to delay my writing. That and I didn't have the plot line figured out so the story was really starting to bore me. I don't like to just give up on my projects though, so I made it more interesting. I'll probably write more often for a while because of summer vacation.  
**

* * *

Eve woke up before Willow. She was tired the night before, but krakens didn't need as much sleep as other species. She crawled out of bed and stretched. Then she remembered she had to help Willow look for her cat that day. Eve hadn't liked the cat since she had been attacked by her. Of course, krakens healed quickly, but it had still hurt. Eve was also bothered by the fact that her mom believed that Willow, a weak steve, was Valkyrie. Eve was sure that couldn't be possible. Not only were Willow and Valkyrie about 400 years apart, but Willow couldn't even swim across the sea to the desert biome. All the steves Eve had read about were able to swim for an infinite amount of time as long as they didn't stay underwater. With Valkyrie, there were only rumors, and, according to most of them, she had died. Still, Eve knew it wasn't Willow's fault she had been mistaken for someone else. Though Eve knew Willow did look a lot like her mom's friend, at least from the drawings she and Valkyrie had drawn when they were kids, she wondered if maybe her Cordelia had spent too much time exposed to the void. Maybe Willow was a descendent of Valkyrie, and happened to look the same. Eve changed the subject in her mind, knowing she wouldn't get anywhere with her current line of thought yet, as she didn't have enough information.

Eve found it strange. Willow appeared to be an ordinary steve, but she was weaker. Obviously that wasn't the most remarkably thing about her; it was her personality that was different. Eve hadn't met a lot of people, but in literature she had seen many. Though the beings in the stories were never as complicated or interesting as the people she had met in real life. Someday, Eve wanted to write a book with people that were more real than any in other books, but to do that she would have to observe the people she met outside her books. So far that included her mom, the fish she had become acquainted with, and herself. She had heard stories about Valkyrie, but had never met her in person, her dad couldn't be counted because she couldn't remember much about him; he had died when she was young, she was too shy to talk to any of the monster mobs, and Willow and Stormy would be valuable to her if they stayed long enough. Eve thought it was best that she study them now while she could. Eve walked over to Willow and knelt in front of her. Willow had seemed cold and determined before. It seemed, like the villains in the stories Eve read, Willow had a goal she would do anything to achieve. No matter what. The more Eve thought about it, the more interesting Willow became. Why was she so focused on finding the cat? Why didn't she have the same mind-set as the other steves? They wouldn't think of another mob as being _that_ important.

There was also that unapproachable aura her personality gave. She looked peaceful now, while she was sleeping, but still managed to seem distant. Why wouldn't she want to be around other mobs, at least the ones that weren't hostile? Eve went back to the bed and sat on it while she waited for Willow to wake up. Eve didn't understand Willow, but that's what made the girl so interesting. Eve usually understood things, and when she didn't she would wrap her mind around that one thing until it did make sense. Eventually the answers would come to her. Eve decided to compare herself with Willow. They were both quiet, and both seemed cautious about forming new friendships, but Eve wanted to be near people. The only problems were that she was still too young to fully change into a kraken, so she couldn't leave the sea, and the only village she could go to wasn't very social. She smiled, remembering some jokes her mom had told her about the village. Eve brought up her inventory and looked at the eyes of her "reflection". They were bright, curious, and observant. Kraken were curious by nature. She closed her inventory and looked at Willow again, who was starting to wake up. Eve wondered again what made people's personalities. Was it just their past?

* * *

I open my eyes, waking up to a creaking sound. For a second I wonder where I am and why I'm sitting on a stone floor. Then I remember that I'm in some minecraft world, not Earth. Today I need to find Stormy, because I know I won't forgive myself if she's dead. _You mean, you won't forgive_ me, the voice in my head chimes in. I'm about to think that I will, but I know that's a lie. _Of course, I was made to be the one to hold the blame__ and resentment__, _she replies bitterly. Wait, wait... I'm talking to myself now. That can't be good. Stormy won't be dead, I try to reassure myself, and even if she is I won't accept it until I see her. For some reason, that usually works to reassure me.

Out of the corner of my eye I see Eve sitting on the bed staring at me. I almost smile, but that would be out of character for me, so instead I stand and brush myself off. Suddenly a drop of water falls on my head. I look up and another one falls in my eye. I flinch and Eve laughs at me. She stands up and stretches while I sigh inwardly.

"Do you feel like leaving now?" I ask her, wanting to hurry up and start looking for Stormy. Eve looks at me, offended. Suddenly I realize how she must have interpreted it.

"I was here first." she says stubbornly.

"Sorry," I say hesitantly, but really meaning it, "I was referring to the desert village. Are you ready to go?" She looks at me doubtfully, then asks me something that surprises me.

"Did you really mean it, when you apologized I mean?" she asks, crossing her arms.

"Yes. Are you ready to go now?" I say impatiently. She looks at me, then walks over to the wall of water, looks at the sky, and nods. Before I can say anything else she jumps into the sea and swims up toward the desert. I follow after her, not liking the morning swim at all. Wanting to get out of the water as soon as possible, I swim faster. Because of this I get to the beach before Eve, who arrives a few seconds after me. Once I get to the beach I look at the desert. It looks much like your stereotypical desert: sand dunes as far as you can see, except for that jungle in the distance. Nothing in minecraft seems to make sense: not even the balance of air in underwater caves. Eve pokes my arm and points to the village when I look at her. It's so close to the sea that part of it is half-submerged in water. I look at Eve, who's looking at the village without moving. I try to say something, but I don't really know how to say it. I think I'm making things seem more important than they really are, or maybe I'm not. _Just tell her you meant what you said,_ a thought cheers me on, but it's not that simple. _It is, you're the problem,_ I hear another voice say. I tell it to shut up and stop bringing up bad family memories. _He_'s not here right now, so I should at least use this time to relax a bit. It briefly occurs to me that I don't even have to go back. That doesn't mean I can't prove him wrong though. I am not the problem. _Well_, I quietly admit to myself,_ maybe in this case_.

"Eve, I'm sorry for offending you earlier, and I don't say things I don't mean." I blurt out randomly. Eve looks at me like I just I told her I'm secretly a mermaid, which I might be. Not really.

"Ok." she says, sounding slightly annoyed. Oh well, at least she knows now.

"Does anyone live at that village." I ask, changing the subject. She takes in a deep breath, then lets it out.

"No, but they'll be there." Eve says, smiling, "I have to stay here. If I'm out of the water for too long I'll dry up." I look at her with curiosity. Come to think of it her body does seem to be made of water.

"Is that why I can see through you." I ask, aware of how childishly innocent that question sounds only after I say it. I'll have to be more careful about that. Eve smiles at me, amused.

"Yes, I'm mostly water." she says before walking further into the sea. I walk over to the village to see if anyone's there. If any one _alive_ is there. What Eve said bothers me. If the villagers are all dead I can't ask them anything, and I'm not communicating with ghosts. It's better to be prepared though, so if they're dead our... my backup plan will be to search the beach. I enter the first house I reach, and as soon as I walk in I step on something that I soon recognize as bones. I look around to see if anyone else is here, but there's no one else. I see a chest though, so I go over and open it. It's filled with the bones and rotten flesh of another villager. I dump it out onto the floor to see if there's anything else in there. The body, bread, some wheat, and a black block of...something fall out. I pick up the mysterious block and put it in my inventory, leaving the bread and wheat. I'm not eating that. I look at the bones near the door again, wondering what happened. Did the villagers just stay in their houses until they died? The doors weren't locked though, so they probably had another reason.

I leave the house and wander around the rest of the village. The other houses aren't much different, in that most of them are occupied by dead villagers, which is actually kind of boring after you get over that fear of being around dead people. My mom is a mortician, or an undertaker as I like to call it, and I used to spend a lot of time visiting her at work, since she ran a family business, until I went into middle school. My teachers gave their classes a lot of homework.

Once I finish exploring the village I go back to where Eve is. She's sitting in the sea, under the water, and talking to a fish that keeps swimming around her in circles. She sees me and points back to the village. I look, not noticing at first the tower that's farther into the sea than the rest of the village. Then I see it. I walk along the beach until I'm across from it, and not having any other choice other than swimming or to leave the tower unchecked, I swim over to it. Near the water is a window. It seems that this building wasn't completed, as there is no window pane. I climb through the window and fall face first onto a cobblestone floor. I get up and lightly touch my forehead, which is now bleeding. The distorted voice in my head laughs, and I end up laughing quietly too after imagining how dumb I must have looked when falling on my face.

I hear a cat meow beside me, and looking over I see Stormy sitting on a cobblestone chair. She's a cat again, and stares at me with a concerned expression on her face. For some reason I find myself not wanting her to be worried. That's odd. I try to smile a bit, but it feels strange to smile, so I get up and tell her I'm fine. She looks at me doubtfully and seems to smirk.

"It's just a minor headache, don't look at me like that." I tell her, becoming nervous from being stared at. She shakes her head and jumps to the window. I suddenly remember that she dislikes swimming just as much, if not more, than I do, but if we want to get back we'll have to swim. Stormy jumps away from the window and onto a ladder leading up to the second floor of the tower, as if she knew what I was thinking. I never knew how strange a cat climbing a ladder would look. I follow her, and once I get to the second floor I see her sitting on a crafting table. She brings up her inventory and motions for me to do the same, so I do. She points to a block of wooden planks and moves them to the middle of the screen, then she looks from me to the blocks of wood in my inventory. I assume she needs more blocks of wood, so I give her some of mine. She continues to place them in a half circle, and I realize she's showing me a crafting recipe. I use the crafting table to craft the new recipe, and end up making a boat. I look back at Stormy just before she jumps down the ladder. I climb down to the first floor and just as I'm about to reach the window I get an odd feeling, like something isn't right. Eve yells at something from outside the tower, and I run to the window. Stormy, who was already sitting in on the windowsill, suddenly jumps and attacks my face. I fall backwards in shock, mostly because my face hurts, and Stormy jumps onto the floor and hisses at the window. With my hand covering my face _again_, I look at the window to see a zombie climbing through it who, surprisingly, looks even worse than that last zombie I saw.

Knowing I don't have much time, I realize I have two choices: a. fight the growing number of zombies gathering around the window, b. pretend to be in a horror movie and stand here in fear, c. try to pretend to be one of them, or d. climb up the ladder and hope they can't follow me. Since plan A didn't work last time, and B and C were automatically disqualified, I climb up the ladder as fast as I can. When I get to the very top of the tower I see Stormy and realize she had the same idea, but when I look back down I see that zombies are not only able to climb ladders, but they also climb a lot faster than I had thought. I quickly get away from the ladder as a hand reaches up out of the opening to grab my foot. As soon as the sunlight touches it though, the zombie starts to burn. I back away to the side of the tower and look down at the ocean. In the water is an army of skeletons and zombies surrounding the base of the tower. I start to wonder. This is the second time in a week that I've been attacked by monsters. I look for Eve, but I don't see her until she peeks out from behind one of the village buildings. Does this usually happen, and who are these undead nuisances after? In the back of my mind a voice tells me the answers I've already thought of, but what I want are answers from someone who would have a better idea. Refocusing on Eve, I see her observing the undead from behind the house. The look on her face tells me she doesn't know much more about this than I do.

Suddenly something walks up to her, a weird green creäture with four legs. It's immediately illuminated with a flashing light. Eve turns around in an instant, picks it up, and throws it at one of the village buildings before it explodes, destroying half of the wall. Some of the skeletons turn their attention toward her, but other than that they just watch. I look closer at them and see that they're carrying bows and arrows. Maybe they know she has too much to hide behind for them to be able to hit her. They seem to know they can't leave the water, not during day at least, but the sun is already nearing the horizon. Realizing I can't just stand here and waste the small amount of time I have to think of a plan, I begin pacing back and forth across the tower. That usually helps me think. I can't run away like last time. We're completely surrounded, and running away damages my dignity. I might be able to hold them off, as long as I have a weapon and they can't climb the walls, but I'd need backup. I look back at Eve, who looks worried, and realize she might be the only one who can save us - as embarrassing as it is to admit that I can't handle this situation on my own.

"Eve!" I yell, growing more nervous as the sun continues to advance towards the horizon. The creeper already blew her cover, so there's no harm in calling her now. Besides, we're running out of time. Eve looks at me from the beach. "Can you turn into a squid!" I hear some of the zombies at the ladder laughing. Eve's eyes widen as if she realizes something, or in fear, and she dives into the water. I wait for what feels like too long, but she doesn't resurface. Hoping she went to get help I turn to Stormy who, while I was focused on Eve, turned back into a human and is now wearing a purple robe and putting her long hair into a hastily made ponytail. I notice that her hands are shaking.

"We'll need swords." she says, using the wooden planks from earlier to make another crafting table. "Do you remember how to make them?" She looks at me. I nod and walk over to the table. Stormy paces around the tower like I was, but impatiently. After taking a deep breath to help focus myself I quickly craft our swords. I hand 8 of them to Stormy and keep 8 of them myself. For some reason, I feel calmer with a sword in my hand. Stormy, however, does not feel the same way. The sun is setting, and that seems to make her even more nervous.

"I don't like this. I like hunting things, but I don't like being hunted." she says randomly. I wonder if talking will help her relax.

"I don't either. I feel nervous, but excited. It's like I'm coming back to something I knew once, more of a déjà vu feeling, but rather unsettling." I tell her, trying to explain the disturbing feeling. In the back of my mind, I feel like smiling, like this is some sort of hobby. That scares me.

"I wonder where that squid went. She probably ran away." Stormy changes the subject. She paces across the tower again, and I realize that maybe conversation won't help. I could try to reassure her, but remembering how that usually went with my sister makes me unsure of how much it will work. I decide to try changing the subject first.

"Why didn't you change into a human before?" I ask her, partly because I'm also curious about that.

"It takes energy to switch between forms, and being a cat, superior to other mobs," she laughs nervously, "I had a feeling I'd need my energy later." I notice that she doesn't seem quite as tense now, so I ask another question.

"Were did you find those robes?" I question. She looks at me and grins.

"Oh, well you see, there was this villager, but he was dead, so I thought that since he wasn't rotting yet I'd take his clothes and throw him into the water. Then the fish would have more food and there'd be more of them for me to eat!" she says quickly, seemingly unaware of how disturbing that first sentence would be for some of the readers. I would probably have done the same thing though. It's not like some one who's already dead is going to put their clothes to any use._ From dirt we came, to dirt we will return_, the distorted voice actually says something that isn't self-destructive.

I look at the horizon to see the sun is over half way gone, I remember some breathing techniques one of the substitute teachers taught my class. It was supposed to help the class calm down because they were causing trouble.

"Stormy, take a deep breath. And think about napping in the sun." I add, knowing she likes the sun. She stops pacing and tries it. "Now hold it in," I say, "and breath out." She does that, then repeats it a few times. It seems to help until the zombies suddenly start climbing out onto the tower roof. I can't believe the timing of that.

The first one charges at Stormy, the closest target. She swings her sword at it blindly and accidentally knocks its head off. For someone who hunts regularly you'd think she would be better at fighting. Then again I've only seen her hunt fish. I lunge at the next zombie that appears, and before it's even halfway up it's dead, falling down and taking a few others with it. I turn to Eve.

"Try to use your experience from hunting to kill these things. You've already taken care of one." I say quickly, striking the next zombie. If I can keep them from getting up we'll probably last longer. Stormy doesn't seem to be effected at all by my advise. Something suddenly comes up behind her, which I recognize as a large spider, and tries to attack her. She dodges and quickly counter-attacks it with a stab. I'm about to congratulate her when I feel a fist come in contact with my face. I spin around cut the zombie in half, then step on the hand of the next one trying to climb up the ladder. No one touches my face. There's an audible crack, but the zombie doesn't show any hint of pain. I drive my sword down through its head and, being a wooden sword, it breaks. Thankfully I made a lot of swords.

* * *

"Eve! Can you turn into a squid!" Willow shouted from the top of the church. Eve's eyes widened as she came up with an idea. She glanced at the skeletons, who were watching her. The zombies were stupid, but the skeletons were smarter, at least a little, and more cautious. Eve didn't know how much they knew about krakens, but she was going to be careful anyway. She ran into the sea and dove into the water without replying to Willow's question. She hoped this would look make it look like she had abandoned her "friends". Eve knew that it was a pointless battle for them. They were clearly outnumbered and not strong enough to win against an army, but Eve knew someone who was. She smiled to herself.

* * *

Xia woke up early in the morning, very early. She looked at her alarm clock and groaned. It was only 3:02 in the morning. She ran her hand through her long brown hair. She and her sister looked alike in many ways, but there were noticeable personality differences. While her Willow was clearly an introvert, Xia was an obvious extrovert, and possibly one of the most popular girls in school. Willow was unnoticed by many, and Xia wasn't the only one under the impression that Willow preferred it that way. The rest of the family was too. While thinking about her sister Xia remembered her dream. It was really unusual for her dreams to be in color, not only that, but this dream had made her concerned for her sister. Xia had learned that like a stray cat, Willow could and would take care of herself.

Xia leaned over to her nightstand, and after picking up her pen and dream journal, began writing down what she had dreamt of.

_May 3, 2000_

_Scene 1: Willow got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. She went in to check on Stormy. She picked up the water dish to refill it, but collapsed. There was no floor underneath her though, and she fell into darkness._

_Scene 2: Willow woke up on an island and threw up. She went to explore the beach first, then went into the jungle where she found a cat and chased it. Finally she collapsed and the cat ran off. It went to a cottage and got this tall man with purple short purple hair and really light, almost white, purple eyes to teleport Willow back to the cottage. After she woke up they took care of her, and Stormy trained her how to craft things (this dream takes place in minecraft, but Willow didn't like computer/video games so she never played)..._

After she finished recording her dream she put the dream log and pen back on her nightstand and looked back at the clock. 3:59. She rested her head on her pillow again and closed her eyes, hoping to get some more sleep before school later in the morning. Specifically, she wanted some more rest before cheerleading practice later in the afternoon. Before long she was asleep again, and completely unaware of what commotion the day ahead of her would be accompanied by.

* * *

**I stayed up way too late writing this.  
**


	10. Going Back

Wielding two swords, I slash at the zombie to my right and block the one on my left. Stormy is still behind me fighting the monsters I have my back to, so I can focus more on the mobs in front of me. Just as I cut down another zombie I see a pile of bones shaped like a spider advancing toward me, getting ready to attack.

Those replaced the regular spiders a while ago, and fortunately they are weaker. We have been fighting for almost half a night and still haven't been able to leave the tower, though the mobs' numbers finally seem to be decreasing. I drop one sword and swing the other sideways at the spider skeleton. The sword breaks but the mob is defeated, leaving glowing green experience orbs and a few bones in its place. I pick up the sword I had let go off and stand there to catch my breath. My ears twitch as I hear a zombie growl on the first floor of the tower.

I am used to fighting, maybe more than I should be, but not for this long. The adrenaline rush that had kept me awake during the past few hours had shown me that I am capable of much more than thought I was, which made me feel daring and had me wanting to see how long I could keep going like this. Now, the adrenaline seems to be wearing off and I feel like I'm reaching my limit.

The unsettling sound of bone hitting concrete, or cobblestone in this case, breaks my line of thought. I spin around just in time to see a skeleton burst into the glowing green orbs Stormy and I have collected so much of lately. Stormy looks up at me, annoyed at first, then almost pensive, and then she smirks as if to hide her previous expressions. I glare at her.

" Slacker," she jokes.

" How many more of these are there?" I ask, gesturing to the mobs below us since there weren't any more on the top of the tower, " Do mobs usually spawn like this?"

" To answer your first question," she pauses to look over the side of the tower, " not that many. I think they're mostly in the tower now. And no," she glances at me " mobs usually don't spawn in as armies. In fact, I've never seen it happen before." She says this casually. I scowl.

" They must be coming from somewhere then, if mobs shouldn't spawn in such large groups." I reason, barely able to suppress my temper, while moving over to the ladder to watch a zombie climb up.

It isn't as fast as the ones before it. I've noticed the monsters have gotten weaker.

" You're right. It's probably a necromancer, considering the mobs are all undead now." Stormy replies contemplatively as the zombie reaches the top of the tower and tries to grab my foot.

I kick its head and it loses its grip on the ladder and falls. Even from here I can see its neck is twisted at an odd angle. I cringe slightly, thinking of how brutal that was, but it doesn't last long. At the bottom floor of the tower I see a group of dark shapes gather around the fallen zombie. One of them looks up at me and glares, pure hatred filling its eyes. He reminds me of one of the first zombies I saw up close, and I shiver slightly before glaring back at him. Behind me I hear the sound of a sword breaking.

" I need another sword." Stormy says, frustrated.

I leave the ladder, thankful for the excuse move, and toss Stormy one of my swords before going to the crafting table to make more. She walks over to the ladder to guard it while I work, since I have most of the wood.

" Aren't you getting tired?" I ask her as I craft a large amount of extra wooden swords on the crafting interface.

" Yes, it's strange though." she says once I'm done.

I give her half of the swords I made and take my place in front of the ladder again. Stormy walks over to the edge of the tower and leans against it.

" Before I left this world I never got tired or worn out no matter what I was doing." she continues.

" Have you been looking for the necromancer? The sooner we get out of this the better." I say, making a mental note to think about what she said later.

" Yes, I have been," she says in a very irritated tone of voice as she moves to the side of the tower that overlooks the desert village, " but all I've seen is a chicken..." she pauses.

" What?" I ask, glancing at her, which doesn't do much good as she has her back to me.

" I have been so..." she mumbles to herself angrily.

" What are you talking about!" I snap, my patience thinning. I had said it louder than I meant to.

" The chicken. It's the chicken!" she nearly yells.

" You're joking," I say, annoyed. How could a chicken be a necromancer? Then again, why would a chicken be in desert when all the villagers have been dead for who knows how long? The villagers didn't seem to have any animal pens to put livestock in, so it is unusual a chicken would be here. But still... a chicken single-handedly animating an army of undead strong enough to keep us here for hours?

" Do I look like I'm joking," Stormy growls, turning to face me. She looks almost feral.

" No, but are you sure it's just the chicken. There were more than undead attacking us at first." I suggest cautiously.

" We'll see. If there are still undead coming after you when the chicken is gone, you'll know there's more than one." she tells me, climbing up onto the edge of the tower, " Will you be able to fight off the rest of the mobs on your own?" she asks stiffly.

I glance down the ladder and see that the mobs seem to have left, or are hiding. Are zombies that intelligent? Suddenly I get an idea. I break the last block of ladder and replace it with a block of wooden planks. I should have thought of that before.

" Wait. You're not going to jump, are you?" I ask her, walking toward her slowly. She smirks.

" The laws of nature in your world don't apply to minecraft, as you would call it."

Then she jumps. I run to the edge she was standing on and watch her fall. It takes less than a minute for her to hit the water, and, to my surprise, she actually swims to the surface and begins to make her way to the beach. I relax a bit at that, and even more when I notice there aren't any monsters near her or in her way. I really thought she would die.

Once she gets to the beach she slowly and carefully creeps up to one of the village wheat gardens, where the chicken is pecking at the ground. It looks innocent enough, but when it looks up and starts doing a weird dance and five zombie spawns in front of it I realize Stormy was right. The zombies groan and walks toward the tower, not noticing Stormy hiding behind one of the houses with a predatory gleam in her eyes. She moves closer to the chicken until she's only a few feet away from it. The chicken goes very still, as if it knows some one is watching it. Stormy pauses as well, waiting for its next move. Suddenly, the chicken turns to the side and runs. She chases after it, but makes no move to catch it, and they both leave the village.

I stand there, even after they leave, and listen to the sounds around me. On the lower floors zombies groan and growl, and something has been pounding on the block covering the ladder for a few minutes now, but I haven't heard the sound of bones rattling, which I should hear if there were skeletons nearby. There should be though, shouldn't there? I spin around, bringing my sword up in front of me. Nothing. The floor is clear. I let out a sigh of relief and sit down against the edge of the tower. There's a slight breeze, and it feels cold against my skin, so I put my sword down next to me and curl up into a ball.

I close my eyes and yawn. _I'm not going to sleep. I just need to rest my eyes,_ I tell myself, but soon I start drifting off, and I hear a distorted voice whisper, _You shouldn't fall asleep here, idiot,_ in my ear. I know it's not really there though. It just sounds like it is in my subconscious state...

_ I'm outside a large wooden mansion, tending to a garden. I hear a door open and footsteps coming toward me._

_ " Sarah," a girl calls, and I turn toward her.  
_

_ She has her long, reddish brown hair in a braid today, and wears the plain, light blue t-shirt she made last week. Her jeans aren't as new. They are faded and have holes in the knees, but they're still her favorite pair.  
_

_ " Etzili, your friend stopped by earlier. He was as big headed as he always is." I scowl, taking my gloves off and wiping my forehead with the back of my hand._

_ " Really what did he say this time?" she teases, smiling._

_ I frown. Why does she like this guy?_

I'm brought back to reality when my head hits something hard. I wince and open my eyes. I fell over while I was asleep and my head hit the cobblestone. Reaching up to put a hand over the part of my head that hit the floor, I look around. There aren't any mobs, and I can't hear the zombies anymore. It seems brighter too. I get up slowly to prevent my head from throbbing too much, but my muscles ache in protest. Looking at the horizon, I can just see the top of the sun.

I lean against the edge of the tower and think about my dream. It was really strange. The house was so familiar. Even now that I'm awake, I still feel like I know that place. And the girl I saw looked just like Xia. Still, it was just a dream. I shake my head. How could I have fallen asleep. It wasn't safe. _You should have listened to me,_ the distorted voice grouches. I ignore it.

I let go of my head and look down at the water. My throat feels really dry, but I push it to the back of my mind. There are still some skeletons and zombies scattered around, but there aren't any spiders, skeletal or not. I still feel really sore and tired from fighting almost all night. I decide I'm safe enough where I am and lay down on the cobblestone floor. Stormy said something earlier about minecraft. What was it? Again, I drift off to sleep (more or less) thinking of various things.

* * *

Stormy chased the bird out of the village, but made no attempt to catch it. She wanted to know where it would run. The whole situation had felt off from the beginning. First, they had been attacked by an army of mobs. Then they had had to fight for most of the night. None of the mobs had left. They were all focused on her and Willow. Or was it just Willow? Nothing like this had happened before the human came. At least, not that she knew of. And the necromancer had turned out to be a chicken. Why? Why a chicken? None of it made sense, though Stormy did a good job at masking her confusion. Stormy made sure to pay attention to where she was so she could find her way back. This would all be pointless if she got lost.

The bird veered to the side every now and then, which made it harder for Stormy not to attack it. She assured herself that the time for that would come. Suddenly the bird disappeared from view. Stormy, who had been so focused on the chicken, didn't notice the ravine in time and also fell into it.

* * *

Ender was in the basement again. He had a fair idea of where Stormy and Willow might be. If Willow had been rescued by the krakens like he guessed, Stormy would have ended up on the shore of the desert because Cordelia wouldn't have cared much for a cat. Krakens in general didn't like cats. Her daughter may have saved Stormy, if she had been the one to find the two, but Ender didn't know much about Cordelia's child. All he knew was that she, Cordelia, had married at one point and had a child. Her husband died soon after. After that, Cordelia didn't spend much time in the bay, only visiting as often as she had to. Although, if he remembered correctly, she visited Eve much more often than her own parents had visited her, which was... once every few years perhaps. Krakens are generally a very independent species, so when they're young they need their parents _much_ _less_ than other mobs.

Refocusing his mind, Ender rationalized it was likely they'd be in the desert village by now. He rolled up the map he had been looking at and and put it back on a bookshelf. If he hurried he might be able to get to them before they left. He walked up the stairs to the living room and closed the entrance to the hidden basement.

That was when he heard a knock on his door. He sighed and went to see who it was. He never got visitors. Who ever it was had to be there for a reason. He opened the door to find a girl staring at him. She had long, bole colored hair and dark grey eyes. If her hair hadn't been so long Ender might have mistaken her for Willow. She was a strange sight though, standing there in her pyjamas. She looked scared and curious, and something else he couldn't quite place.

He didn't invite her in. She was already nervous, and from the looks of it she didn't know him either. They continued to stare at each other in silence, both wondering what to do. Then finally, the girl spoke.

" She," her voice came out scratchy and she cleared her throat, "Willow is on the top of a tower in a village in the desert. Stormy chased a chicken further into the desert and fell into a ravine." she finished quickly.

Then she disappeared.

Ender stood there in shock for a minute before he decided to see if she was telling the truth or not. He knew where the ravine was. If Stormy had fallen into it she would be unconscious and unable to defend herself. Ender closed the door and teleported to the ravine. After scanning the area, he saw that Stormy really was here and definitely out cold. He teleported next to her and saw that a trail of blood was running from the side of her head, but she wasn't dead yet. He gently picked her up and teleported home. After laying her on the sofa he went to get a few splash potions of healing and bandages. He poured the potion of healing over her head and checked her for any other injuries, using the potions and bandages when he needed to. By then it was day, and he went to get Willow.

* * *

_**Earlier that night**_

Eve swam around the swarms of fish that got in her way with a feeling of nervousness. Most of these were passive mobs, but her mom's stories about giant kraken-eating fish and sea monsters scared her. Bayo, a young fish that looked similar to the Beluga Sturgeon from our world, accompanied Eve, who was beginning to have second thoughts about swimming into the ocean. She didn't even know where to find Cordelia, and she wondered why she would go through so much trouble to save two mobs she didn't know very well. She had all her fish friends to talk to (she loved all the stories they told) and occasionally she would see a land mob. Krakens lived longer much longer than most other mobs. If it was really adventure she wanted she could just leave the sea and explore the ocean; Cordelia only came to see her every few months anyway. It would probably be ok if she stayed near the land and came back after a while.

Then again it wasn't just that she was bored. She also wanted to talk to someone her own age - some one that had a human based form, more or less. Not only were Willow and Stormy human based mobs, but they had interesting personalities as well, in her opinion. Eve thought back to the previous days and evaluated their behaviors. Eve had learned Willow valued honesty when Willow had apologized, though other than that Willow didn't seem to communicate very well. Or maybe that wasn't the best way to put it. Willow just didn't seem like she talked to other people much, perhaps, and she was rude sometimes. She also seemed a bit depressed. Maybe. Eve would think more on that later when she knew her better.

Stormy, on the other hand, was very weird. The first time she had seen the cat Stormy had attacked her without a second thought. Then, when Eve had gotten away, Stormy had seemed to be having a panic attack. Eve had watched them from under the water for a while after that. Apparently the cat hadn't bothered to think things through. So no, Eve didn't like her very much, but she could still be an interesting character. Stories contained all kinds of people after all, she couldn't just analyze the people she thought were interesting.

If Willow and Stormy died Eve would lose her study materials, and she didn't want that. That was why she swam out into the ocean, she concluded. She stopped swimming while Bayo caught up to her.

" I know she should be here somewhere." Eve muttered, glancing around nervously. She knew this based on instinct more than anything else.

Below her lay a pitch black space, and her imagination kept suggesting creatures that could suddenly appear there at any moment. In the ocean, where the water was deep, Eve felt very vulnerable. She stayed close to the surface of the water even though she knew it wouldn't help her. Bayo rolled his eyes and swam down.

" Wait, you can't just..." She stopped and groaned, knowing how stubborn the fish was, and swam after him.

It wasn't long before she started to noticed a large shape below them. It was faint, and at first she tried to convince herself it was either her imagination or an ancient underwater ruins of some sort. The closer they got to it though, the more distinct the shape became. Bayo stopped swimming when he realized it was moving toward them. Eve stopped as well and looked up, but the surface was too far away to comfort her. She closed her eyes and started counting to 10. While she was distracted the shadow had disappeared and been replaced by a smaller, less noticeable figure. As soon as Bayo recognized it he swam behind Eve, who had finished counting. Eve opened her eyes and looked down at the unhappy face of Cordelia.

" Eve, I told you not to come here, of all places." Cordelia said, glaring at her daughter.

" Willow is in trouble." Eve explained quickly. She didn't like it when people acted angry.

400 or so years ago Cordelia wouldn't have been worried, but something strange had happened to Valkyrie (yes, she still believed Willow was Valkyrie), and if Eve had come looking for help... Still, she worried about leaving the void unguarded. It _was_ partly her fault it was accessible to every creature in the ocean.

" Come with me." Cordelia said before swimming away toward the Sea. She would only be gone for a small amount of time.

When they got to the desert village it was deserted except for various items the mobs dropped after dieing. The sun had just fully appeared over the horizon and the mobs had either left or burned in the sunlight. Eve looked up at the tower, surprised. It was not what she expected, even though it was day now, to see everything so peaceful compared to before. Glancing at Cordelia, she saw that her mom was also surprised, though not as much, and seemed to be pleased about something. Probably because Willow and Stormy seemed to have done fine without them. Cordelia swam to the beach and began to explore the village, looking for anything that might tell them where Willow and Stormy went.

Eve swam over to the tower and climbed inside. The first level was littered with experience orbs and items dropped by mobs. The orbs floated toward her as she walked around the room and she ended up collecting everything that was dropped. After looking around she went to the ladder and looked up. There was no light coming from the top of the tower, some one had placed a block over the opening, and some of the rungs she could see on the ladder were broken. After a minute she hesitantly climbed to the second floor.

There wasn't any thing interesting there, so she climbed to the third floor. As soon as she got off the ladder to look around, a hand came out of no where and slammed her against the wall. She closed her eyes briefly and breathed in. The air smelled of rotting flesh. Eve gagged and tried to push the zombie away from her.

" Where is she." it snarled. The question sounded more like a command and the hand around her throat tightened.

Before she could answer the block placed over the ladder broke and Willow slid down the ladder, gripping its edges, and jumped onto the zombie, effectively knocking it over while she crouched above it.

" What is your problem!" she growled hoarsely, not giving it a chance to answer before she skewered its head with a wooden sword. The zombie broke into experience orbs, which soon disappeared.

Eve rubbed her throat as Willow got up and looked at her. There were no windows in the room, but Eve could tell that Willow looked very worn out. Willow cleared her throat and grimaced slightly.

" You came back." she stated, her voice clearer now. Eve huffed and looked to the side.

" Of course I did." she said, covering her nose with the sleeve of her shirt.

" Thanks." Willow smiled slightly, though Eve couldn't see it, and climbed down the ladder. Eve followed her.

Neither of the two girls said anything until they had gotten back to the beach and Cordelia was running towards them.

" I found her." Eve said. Cordelia nodded and looked at Willow, who stood a few feet behind Eve.

" Valkyrie, I knew you'd be alright." Cordelia said, smiling. Willow's eyes narrowed.

" It's Willow, but yes, I'm fine." she corrected, then sighed and ran a hand through her hair, " Do you have any water with you?"

" There's a well not far from here." Eve said, pointing behind the village.

" Right. Thanks." Willow replied absently, already leaving. She seemed troubled.

Cordelia and Eve watched her leave. Both lost in their own thoughts. And that's how Ender found them when he teleported into the village.

* * *

**_The Day Before_**

Herobrine sat in the spacious living room of his ridiculously large mansion in the Overworld, which was smaller than his castle in the Nether and slightly larger than his house in the End. He was more bored than usual, and looking through his list of minecraft players to haunt, which was hidden in a math book he had written years ago, didn't help him. He was just as bored as before. Then he heard a door open and footsteps heading in his direction. He looked up from his list as his brother, Notch, came into the room and sat down on a dark red couch across from him. Herobrine, closing the book and putting it down, looked up at his brother and smiled. It was an entirely fake smile. Herobrine had known his brother would visit eventually, but perhaps not so soon. Still, he had wanted to be careful, hence the math book. It annoyed the heck out of Notch when he couldn't figure out what his brother was planning before disaster struck.

There had been another experiment, a chicken this time, and Herobrine was sure Notch would consider it animal abuse. At least Herobrine wasn't as bored now that he had his brother to mess with.

" Notch, how nice of you to visit." Herobrine said politely and smiled. This, of course, was usually only said for hospitality, but today he _almost_ meant it.

" What, exactly, have you been up to lately with your experiments?" Notch asked, cutting straight to his point. He was too tired at the moment for small talk.

" I'm still making some adjustments. Have they been causing you any trouble?" Herobrine asked innocently. Notch looked at him with suspicion.

" No, but the coding worries me. They're too..." Notch paused, looking for the right word, "complicated. Just make sure you don't get too far ahead of yourself. Don't make anything too extravagant." He said before signing out of the game.

Herobrine was surprised. The chicken wasn't _that_ advanced. It was just a bit more powerful than your average necromancer. He wasted no time in calling a skeleton and ordering it to bring him a laptop, since he preferred to use this mod than enter the game's coding himself. When the skeleton entered the room again and gave him the laptop he took it and sent the mob away. It didn't take him long to find what he was looking for. Herobrine's eyes widened in surprise before he smirked. It would seem he had found the answer to his boredom after all.

**Author Note: Bole is a reddish brown color. The color code for it is 79443B, if you want to know what it looks like. It's been pointed out to me that the way I switch between first person point of view and third person omniscient is confusing. I haven't been writing for that long, so I don't really know what point of view I prefer. I think I like third person omniscient better, because then it's easier to cover all the characters instead of focusing mainly on one. **

**I know in the last chapter I said I'd update more often... and right after that the story went on an almost-year-long hiatus. I sincerely apologize to the people who were reading this story. That was really bad. It's like my mind wants to do the opposite of what I say I'll do, so when I said I'd update more often I just ran out of ideas. Anyway, from now on, I won't be updating on a regular basis. **

**One more thing. You may like AnimeQueen99's fanfiction. That's all. Bye!**


	11. Regrouping

Xia was dreaming again as soon as she went back to sleep. She watched as Willow built her house and saw Stormy gradually fall asleep next to a tree. When night came Stormy didn't wake up and Willow carried her inside the plain, box shaped building. Xia floated beside them unnoticed.

After a while, Xia got bored and floated cross-legged a few inches above the house. She'd had plenty of time to look around in the daylight, but now everything felt sinister. Of course, the dark made a lot of people feel that way, but it felt like there was more to her current uneasiness than that. The usual night mobs were scattered around the island. She figured being surrounded by zombies and skeletons was probably getting to her, but there was still something else she hadn't figured out yet.

Then she found it. At the edge of the jungle, hidden in shadows, a tall, hunched over figure stood glaring at the house with intense hatred. Had she seen him before? No. Definitely not. It was just a brief sense of deja vu. She dove through the ceiling of the house and tried to wake Willow, but her hands went through her sisters shoulders. She tried shouting and wasn't heard. Willow finally woke up when something started banging loudly on the door…

Beep. Beep. Beep. Xia woke up and turned off the alarm. There wasn't enough time to record her dream in her journal, and she was kind of glad. She hadn't had a nightmare in a long time. Yawning, she got up and changed, not bothering to make her bed this time. She rushed to the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face. She was half way through the latter before she noticed Stormy wasn't there. She sighed and finished before going over to Willow's room. The door was halfway open already, so she pushed it the rest of the way with her foot. Willow's unmade bed was in the far right corner of the room. Xia's eyebrows furrowed. Willow always made her bed. Xia went to the kitchen, leaving Willow's door open. Willow wasn't in the kitchen either. Or anywhere else in the house.

Xia felt uneasy after the first check, and panicked after the second. She still remembered her dream, and it only scared her more. There was no sign that some one had broken into the house and everything was where it was the night before, so the only other reasonable explanation was that Willow had run away. Xia knew, though, that Willow wouldn't do that. It wasn't like her. She went to her parents' room and knocked on the door. Her dad woke up first.

"Willow's gone." Xia said, panicked, before he even reached the door.

"What?" he almost yelled.

"I can't find her."

What followed would be a complete search of the house and surrounding area, what felt like a long period of waiting to see if Willow would come back, and finally a police investigation that would reveal many interesting truths about Willow that her family wasn't exactly pleased to find out about, but, strangely, wouldn't find any clues as to where Willow was. The farthest they would get would be the bathroom, and from there it would be as if she had disappeared.

* * *

"Hello." Ender's quiet greeting startled both krakens.

Cordelia whipped around and stepped in front of Eve.

"Who are you?" she snapped, ready to move at a moment's notice.

"My name is Ender. My grandfather, Cyrus, was a friend of Valkyrie's. Perhaps you've heard of him." he responded politely. He didn't want to upset her anymore than he already had.

Cordelia narrowed her eyes in thought. The enderman appeared very calm and confident, but she wasn't sure she believed him. The name rung a bell, so to speak, but she could have heard it anywhere.

Eve stared at Ender with open curiosity and looked like she was sizing him up at the same time.

"Ender!" Willow called, startling the krakens again.

Willow had just finished drinking from the well when she saw Cordelia and Eve locked in a tense staring contest with Ender, who looked unfazed. Her stomach growled loudly as she hurried back to them, or tried to. She wasn't really in her best condition.

"Where were you." she huffed, face red from dehydration. "Seriously. Do you know..." she trailed off and sighed. "Have you seen Stormy?" She looked him in the eyes, but his expression betrayed nothing.

She'd tell him about what happened when she calmed down. It wasn't his fault so it wasn't fair to rant to him. Still, Willow was obviously irritated.

"I was looking for you, but I wasn't able to start until early this morning because of an important meeting."he ignored Willow's angry expression and continued. " Stormy is ok. She's resting, and you should rest soon too."

He placed a hand on her shoulder, ready to teleport them back, and looked at Cordelia.

"Hold it!" Cordelia scowled, grabbing Willow's other shoulder. " Val's not going anywhere. She's _fine_."

Ender's eyes seemed to darken and Cordelia glared. Eve stared at her mother in disbelief.

"Mom, that's _not_ Valkyrie. Don't you see? And she's not okay." Eve tried to reason with her. Cordelia looked at Eve, her eyes wide. "Listen, Valkyrie lived about 400 years ago. Even if she somehow reappeared, and still alive, she definitely wouldn't look that young." She gestured to Willow. "Maybe she's a descendant." She added, seeing the look on Cordelia's face.

Cordelia shook her head and tightened her grip on Willow's shoulder.

"No, no." She said, almost desperately. "This is definitely..."

"Stop it!" Willow cut her off, finally losing her temper. "I. Am. _NOT_. Valkyrie." She shoved Cordelia's hand off her shoulder. "I am Willow. Willow Ryther. And I'm tired of you insisting I'm someone I'm not." She took a deep breath to calm herself down, but all she got was hot air that made her more thirsty. "I don't know why I put up with that so long. No, I do. I had to find Stormy and I didn't want to risk losing your help. But you really need to get it through your head now. I'm not Valkyrie."

Willow stepped closer to Ender, her throat burning. It was creepy that Cordelia seemed to be so convinced with her idea. Willow wondered about her sanity. Fortunately, Ender chose that moment to interrupt.

"There are a lot of things that should be explained to everyone. I'll be back here with Willow and Stormy in two days at around noon. It's in the best interest of all of you to attend, so don't be late." He said, a minuscule amount of what sounded like frustration in his voice, as well as a sense of finality.

He and Willow disappeared in a flurry of purple snow.

There was silence for about three seconds before Cordelia blew up.

"This is all HIS fault!" she screamed. "If he hadn't… if they had never met, none of this would have happened! She never would have left without saying anything! I wouldn't have had to figure out why she left by herself!" She fell on her knees and sobbed.

Eve had never seen her mom like this and was crying in fear. She tried to say something, but found herself unable to. What could she say? But she had to say something. Anything.

"Have you ever, you know, talked to any one about her. Or Dad." Dad. What a foreign word. She hadn't spoken it out loud in so many years. "If you haven't, or if you need to, I'll listen. I'm right here." She sniffed and sat a few inches in front of Cordelia. She could be afraid later. Right now her mom needed her, and Eve needed that.

They sat like that for a long time, one wanting to talk and one waiting for the other, both taking comfort in the presence of the other.

Then Cordelia looked up and recognition seemed to flash in her eyes before they became distant and empty.

"Go Eve." she said, her voice hollow. Eve hesitated, confused and hurt.

"_Go_." Cordelia's command was cold and harsh. Eve teared up again and ran into the sea. She was gone within seconds.

Herobrine had been staring at the two human shaped specks in the distance for a while. He was far away, but not so much so that he couldn't see the older one's face with his superior eyesight. She would only see enough to recognize him. The younger one suddenly jumped into the ocean, swimming away like she was being chased by a terrible monster. Little did she know how close she had been to a real one. Fortunately for her, she didn't have to worry about herself. Not yet at least. It was her mother that should be worried. Poor, poor Cordelia would never be happy. Herobrine's manic laughter echoed across the desert until it reached Cordelia's ears. She covered them and closed her eyes, trying to block out the noise and panic.

* * *

When they appeared at the cottage Ender let Willow collapse on the sofa in favor of getting her food and water. She took it and quietly thanked him when he gave it to her. Ender left and came back with several potions and bandages.

"What are those?" she asked, looking at the unknown potions Ender put on the table.

"Potions of healing and regeneration. These are the last I have at the moment." He noticed Willow had finished eating and picked up the dishes. "I can make more. Drink them before you use the bandages." He went into the kitchen.

Willow looked around and saw Stormy on the other side of the sofa. She wore several bandages and was sleeping peacefully. Willow felt relieved to know she was ok. She drank the potions quickly, trying to ignore the taste, then examined her injuries. She wondered if she should wash herself before using the bandages. She was removing the old bandage on her arm when Ender came in.

"How are your injuries?" he asked, checking on Stormy.

"Better. There's nothing too serious or deep. I've been healing really fast lately. It's not really normal."Willow told him, clearly expecting an explanation.

Ender frowned thoughtfully, his back turned to her. Then the expression was gone and he turned around. "How fast are you healing?"

Willow stood and lifted a part of her shirt that was covered in blood, revealing a long cut that ran across her abdomen. It was thin and had started scabbing over, but the skin around it was paler than the skin farther away. Ender bent down for a closer look, then he stood up and Willow dropped her shirt, self consciously pulling it down and smoothing it out.

"I'm not really sure what to tell you yet. I'll have to see what I can find." he told her. He was confused, though he was careful not to show it. This disproved some of his theories. "You can take a shower before you put the bandages on."

"You have a shower?" Willow asked, surprised. She hadn't seen anything that would indicate more modern technology existed in this world.

"Yes." he answered as he opened the door to the bathroom. "It's in here. The towels are in the cabinet under the sink. When you're done there should be a pile of clothes on the table. Change into them before sleeping on the sofa."

Willow thanked him as he walked away. She went in, taking the bandages with her.

Ender had been surprised by a lot of things during this long day. First there had been the meeting, which didn't have a lot of good news, but the information had been important. Then finding Stormy in a ravine – more bad news. Willow's self control had been impressive, and that had been nice simply because it wasn't bad. Although it did concern him a bit. She was taking being thrown into an entirely different world, having no apparent way back, and being attacked by armies of mobs really well. Too well. He wondered when she would crack. One of the most surprising things, though not the most important or urgent, was Willow's healing ability. His grandfather's journal hadn't mentioned _her_ healing that fast. So what was going on? Of course there was also Cordelia's sanity that had been brought into question, but Ender was more concerned about how Eve was doing because Cordelia was her mom.

Ender teleported to the village where he could buy clothes for Willow and Stormy, as well as food. When Stormy woke up he would have to take her and Willow to the village so they could buy their own stuff. He thought that maybe one of them could get an apprenticeship too. That way they would not only be out of his house, but they would learn more about the world they were in. It would be good for both of them, Willow for obvious reasons and Stormy because she would learn more about what had happened while she was gone. Ender could tell her himself, but she hadn't asked yet and most of what he knew was closely tied to the endermen's form of government, which was very secretive.

Willow had been in the bathroom for nearly an hour before she came out exhausted. Despite Ender's promise to bring better clothes – which hadn't been a lie, they were on the table along with new shoes – she had still washed the ones she had been wearing. She put the bandages back on the table. She hadn't needed them, oddly enough. The clothes she took back to the bathroom and changed in to, hanging the old ones up on the door to dry and hoping Ender was ok with that. If she ended up not needing them again they could be rags or emergency bandages. There was no need to throw them away. After she finished she climbed onto the sofa and fell asleep.

* * *

Cordelia had left the desert village, not wanting to stay any where Herobrine had been seen. She swam into the ocean and stayed near a small island that wasn't too far away. She felt bad about leaving Eve alone after what happened, but she felt it was better this way. Cordelia had failed everyone she cared about, starting with Valkyrie and ending with Eve. Eve didn't need Cordelia's influence. Even so, Cordelia would go back one last time to hear what Ender had to say. Endermen weren't social at all and they only spoke when they felt it was really important. Whatever Ender wanted to say, it must be worth hearing. And for the first time, she was beginning to doubt if Willow was Valkyrie. Just a bit.

* * *

Eve had gone to one of her secret hide outs. Over the years she had made them, exploring underwater caves and making them her own. When she was younger, she would show Cordelia a new one every time she visited, but as she got older she stopped, wondering why she had bothered in the first place. Cordelia rarely remembered where the caves were. This cave had never been shown to anyone except Bayo. It was her best work, in her opinion. She had made an underwater labyrinth with narrow, winding tunnels and too many rooms to count, including the air pocket she was in. She couldn't help but wonder if Cordelia was looking for her. Eve hoped she was, even though she didn't want to be found. It would mean Cordelia cared about her.

* * *

**The Next Day**

Normally Willow was a morning person and couldn't imagine being anything else. But then Minecraft came and messed with reality. Ender eventually got so annoyed at her and Stormy that he (calmly) threatened to teleport them to a remote island and leave them there.

Willow was up immediately.

"I'm glad I got the attention of at least one of you." he said, glancing pointedly at Stormy, who yawned and turned away from him.

Stormy had woken up early that morning "starving". Willow had woken up when Stormy turned on the lights in the kitchen. Ender had woken up because Stormy was loudly complaining that he didn't get any of the foods she liked. Apparently Willow wasn't the only one with super healing. Ocelots healed a lot faster than other species.

"Stormy, how are you feeling?" Ender continued, bringing Willow back to the present.

Stormy ignored him.

"I know you're awake."

Still no answer

"Well, I guess we can't go shopping today." He said apathetically. " Willow, do you..."

Stormy shot up like a bullet, causing Willow to jump. Ender did not look surprised.

"Are we buying food?" she asked, excited.

"No, we're buying clothes, armor, and better weapons. It won't take long, so don't be too selective about anything. The only reason I'm taking either of you today is because I want you to be ready if you're attacked again." Ender replied, deflating Stormy's mood.

"But you said we weren't going." she tried.

"That was before you proved yourself to be well enough to go."

"But..."

"Don't. Argue with me." he interrupted her.

Stormy pouted.

"I don't have any money." Willow said, embarrassed. Ender nodded.

"I know. I'm paying for now." He held up a hand to stop Willow from interrupting. "I'll also show you how to make your own clothing, and some other things. Stormy," he looked back at Stormy, "all your money was put in your bank account. I was able to keep it open for you."

Stormy's eyes widened in surprise and she smiled. "Thanks."

When they were ready to go, Ender teleported them to the village. Willow looked around in awe. She was reminded of a small, medieval village, surrounded by mountains on one side and a low stone wall built around the other, which was just tall enough that she couldn't see past it. Stormy looked around too, quietly noting that not much had changed, aside from the wall. Ender cleared his throat.

They made a quick trip to the bank to get Stormy's money, then went to the first shop.

"Let's get the clothes first." Ender said, leading them towards a rather thin two-story house in the middle of the town. They followed, looking around at the people working in their gardens and doing other daily chores.

"It looks so different from the desert village. The structure." Willow muttered, comparing the two and not finding many similarities. She concluded that it must have been the environment and possibly the time period.

They reached the shop in little time and Ender held the door for them. The room was longer than it was wide, so it was darker near the back and Willow had a hard time seeing who was there, her eyes still readjusting.

"Oh, hello." A young woman's voice called from behind a fabric stand. She stuck her head out from behind it and smiled at Ender, who gave a small smile back. Then she looked at Stormy and Willow. "Stormy?" she asked, unsure. Stormy nodded and beamed at her. "It's nice to see you again. Where were you?" she asked, finally stepping into full view.

"Here and there. How have you been doing?" she asked, smiling.

Willow looked at Stormy out of the corner of her eye, wondering why she hadn't just told her.

"Same as usual." she replied. Willow thought something seemed off for a second, then brushed the feeling away. The girl looked at Willow and smiled shyly. "Sorry for not introducing myself. I'm Hilda. And you are?"

"Willow. It's nice to meet you." Willow smiled back.

The girl came forward and held her hand out. "It's nice to meet you too Willow." she said as they shook hands. "You're all here to buy clothes, right. Come over here and see what fabrics you like." She led them to a rack containing various different materials. "We don't really have anything new, basically just the same old stuff."

"Hilda!" a woman in the back called. "That's no way to advertise!"

"It's fine Mom!" Hilda rolled her eyes. "It's Ender."

The woman in the back sighed in exasperation but didn't say anything else. Hilda looked at Willow and grinned.

"I always make that joke. We don't really get many outside customers, Ender being an exception, and most of us have no where else to shop for clothes, sooo..." she trailed off and shook her head. "Anyway what do you want?"

Stormy picked black and pale green fabrics and dark brown leather. Willow chose black leather and fabrics. Ender made her get different colors too, which ended up being gray, red, and a faded blue.

Then Hilda took their measurements and started crafting.

While she was doing that Ender took them to the armory. They got chain-mail leggings, iron chest-plates and helmets, and leather boots. Then they went to the blacksmith. Willow got a plain looking iron sword while Stormy was stuck staring at an interesting set of daggers. The shop keeper caught her staring and didn't seem surprised.

"Everyone was surprised to see those." he said, startling Stormy. "A strange traveler left them to me. The daggers are about as unusual as he was."

"Did you ever find out who he was?" she asked, curious. She didn't remember many travelers coming through when she had been there.

"No, couldn't even see his face beneath the cloak he wore. He had ears though. On top of his head I mean. I wouldn't have noticed them if they hadn't twitched." he said thoughtfully.

They all seemed to consider this. The daggers were definitely strange. They had long, curved blades that were doubled edged and had runes running along the center and edges of each. The handles were the darkest black any of them had ever seen, despite the light in the room.

"How much do you want for them?" Stormy asked in a rare moment of seriousness.

The blacksmith seemed hesitant, then he coughed.

"Well you can just take them. They've been in here for a few years anyway. It's about time I got rid of them. " he said, then added, "You'll have to pay for the sheathes though."

Stormy smiled and grabbed the daggers off the wall.

After they had paid for everything they left to collect the clothes and teleported back to Ender's place.


	12. The Clone Theory

When they were back at Ender's house he made lunch while Willow and Stormy looked at their new clothes and sorted them. Willow was happy with hers, but slightly embarrassed to find underwear in her pile. She realized Ender must have said something about it to Hilda yesterday, otherwise she couldn't have known, but decided not to say anything. She pushed them under her new shirts and ignored it, knowing she needed them.

Ender went to his room after heating up the rest of the chicken noodle soup he had made for Willow the day before. He opened the trunk next to his bed and pulled out two medium sized backpacks that he never really used. They were still in good condition. Then he went to one of his bookshelves and pulled out of a wooden box two necklaces with a small crystal pendant on each. He took them and the backpacks to the girls.

Stormy looked up when she heard Ender approaching. She'd already finished her food, having eaten at a breakneck pace that had Willow looking away.

" Put your clothes in these." Ender said giving them each a backpack. " These," he held up the necklaces, " will allow me to find you if you ever get into a dangerous situation, and I'll know if you do."

He gave the first one to Stormy and the second to Willow. Willow stared at the necklace on the table in front of her. She had the distinct feeling that Ender was expecting them to leave soon.

" Ender, do you want us to leave?" she asked.

Ender looked at her. She seemed more curious than concerned.

" I think you will want to, at least." he stated, causing Stormy to look at him in confusion.

Willow thought she knew why he thought that. She liked it here. It was almost home. Almost. If she knew Ender and Stormy better it probably would feel like it. But, as it was, she already had a family and she knew she didn't belong here, in this weird world that no longer had a square sun or short days. Willow needed answers and she knew Ender couldn't tell her everything. Besides, it was possible she was putting them in danger just by being near them, considering recent events.

Stormy was about to ask why when she caught Willow's serious expression.

" Willow?" she asked.

Willow looked her and smiled. " I'll have to." she said, then turned serious again. " It's obvious isn't it. I need answers and they can't all be in the same place."

Stormy sighed and looked at her necklace thoughtfully. Ender knew her well, even after her absence.

" I'll go with you." she said, putting the necklace on. Willow looked surprised.

" No, um, no. You… you shouldn't." she stuttered.

Stormy gave her a look, then she smirked. " Ok. Fine. But you can't stop me from coincidentally going in the same direction as you."

" What if I'm attacked again?" she glared.

" What if you are attacked again? Would you have been ok on that tower if you had been alone?" Stormy shot back.

Willow looked away and scowled. " I would have been fine. I was fine."

" You didn't look fine." Ender said, watching the two with some amusement.

Willow huffed. " Yeah well," she paused to take a bite of her soup, " I was." she finished lamely.

Stormy smiled, feeling she had won. Willow didn't really have a choice in where Stormy went anyway.

" You two should rest." Ender said after Willow finished eating. " You're still recovering."

Stormy made a face, knowing he was right. Willow got up and collected the dishes, intending to wash them.

" Just put them in the sink. I'll wash them." Ender said.

Willow did and went back to putting her clothes in her backpack. When she was done she remembered her old clothes she left to dry.

" Hey Ender, are my old clothes still drying on the bathroom door?" she asked.

The corner of Ender's mouth twitched in annoyance. " Yes. I wasn't sure what you wanted to do with them. And from now on leave your clothes outside to dry if you're here."

" Sorry about that." Willow said, scratching the back of her head.

Ender had his back to her and was washing dishes. " Don't worry about it."

Willow went to the bathroom and pulled her clothes off the door. The shirt was torn and stained red in several places. The jeans were ripped and had less stains. Out of the whole outfit, the shoes were in the best condition, but they weren't dry on the inside yet. She took the clothes and folded them as she walked back to the kitchen.

Ender wasn't there. The dishes were put away.

Willow put the clothes in the backpack and carried them into the living room. Stormy was sleeping on the couch, wrapped in a thin, woven blanket. Willow put the backpack down on the table and went back to the bathroom to get her shoes. She yawned as she took the shoes outside and set them on the wooden floorboards of the porch.

She didn't want to leave. She didn't know where to go or even what to look for. She wanted answers now. She wanted to go home. She sighed. She didn't know what she wanted, other than to not be so confused. She guessed she was now starting to accept the seriousness of the situation she was in. And to think, it took, like, 10 to 11 chapters. She shook her head to clear her thoughts. She had no idea where that last one came from.

Then she stopped and held her breath. There was something… there had been a presence in the back of her mind. Distorted laughter? She let her breath out and went inside. It was gone and she had probably just imagined it.

Willow woke up later the same day. She looked around the dark room warily, noticing the kitchen light on and Stormy was still asleep. She pushed the blanket off and quietly hurried to the kitchen. Ender was at the table with a book in front of him and a mug of something off the to the side a bit on the table. He looked up when she came in.

" Are you ok?" he asked, noticing her pale face.

She nodded and sat in the chair across from him.

" Do you want some tea?"

She nodded again. _Sure, why not_, she thought.

Ender got up and poured her a cup. " What flavor?"

" Doesn't matter." Willow yawned.

Ender grabbed the first tea bag he saw, mint, and dropped it into the mug. He put the kettle back on the stove and circled around the table to put Willow's tea in front of her before sitting down. Neither of them spoke for a while.

" Tell me about Valkyrie. Please." Willow finally broke the silence, adding the please as an afterthought.

" I don't know where she was born or who her parents where." he began after some consideration. " She grew up in the desert village you were in yesterday, but she wasn't originally from there. That was around 400 years ago. She didn't care much for her family, except her sister, who she was very protective of. Her sister disappeared one day though. I'm guessing it was around that time she must have met Cordelia."

" How do you know all this?" she interrupted, suspicious.

" My grandfather knew her. She stayed with him for a while." he replied calmly, as if he had been expecting doubt.

Willow nodded thoughtfully.

" At some point," Ender continued, "Valkyrie left the village and swam across the sea to this island." He noticed Willow's eyes widen in surprise. " Valkyrie was a steve. They are like villagers, but stronger. In the game Minecraft, from your world, players generally use steves to represent themselves." he explained.

Willow thought that sounded odd. " Wait." she said, thinking about it. " Do players actually enter worlds here? Like, if I went traveling, could I come across one?"

" Not here, probably. Not only is this Herobrine's world, but it existed before your world came in contact with our..." Ender paused, trying to think of a word. "universe. There were already many existing worlds before the game started. Original Worlds. When a player enters the game, they have to generate a new world. These are Player Worlds. Players cannot enter Original Worlds unless some outside force, meaning either Herobrine or Notch, intervene."

" So there are billions of worlds being created and deleted everyday. How… And Herobrine and Notch have the power to drag players into Original Worlds. Could they drag a human from Earth into..."

Ender started shaking his head. " No, they can only take themselves from Earth to Minecraft and back."

Willow gawked. " Herobrine actually exists on Earth?"

Ender shushed her. " Quiet down and close your mouth. Yes, he _can_, if he wants to, and he did once. He stays in Minecraft now though, as far as I know."

Willow was skeptical again. " I'll believe what you're saying, for now, because it's not that far of a stretch and you seem trustworthy, but how do you know all this?"

" I can't tell you that. I'm sorry, but it's strictly confidential. Endermen are secretive, even the ones who will look you in the eye and not attack you."

Willow winced and lowered her eyes. "Sorry." She wouldn't ask about what sounded to her like a secret enderman organization. For now at least.

" It's alright. Just keep in mind that most endermen hate eye contact. Aside from that, we're a very peaceful race." he said. " Anyway, you wanted to know about Valkyrie."

Willow nodded.

" Where was I?" Ender muttered. " When Valkyrie arrived on the island she started exploring and eventually found my grandfather, Cyrus. He was eccentric, for an Enderman, even more than I am. He took her in and wrote about her in his daily journals. Over that period of time she and Cordelia built up their friendship. They were like sisters. After a few years, maybe 10 or so, Valkyrie and Cordelia left to go traveling. Valkyrie had told Cyrus she wanted to find out about her family and see if her adopted sister was alive."

" How old was Valkyrie when she left?"

" 16."

" Oh." Willow was surprised. " She swam across the sea when she was 6?"

" Yes. She was very strong, and also very bright. My grandfather was fond of her, sometimes referring to her as the daughter he never had."

Willow was silent for a while. " So," she said, her face kept carefully blank. " You think I'm Valkyrie, don't you? That's why you've gone out of your way so much to help me." She felt angry, though she tried to hide. She _wasn't_ Valkyrie and she knew it.

" I think you could be Valkyrie, but that's not why I helped you." Willow looked up from the table. " Stormy likes you and I have to admit I find you interesting." Ender confessed.

Willow wasn't insulted. She had been called worse things than 'interesting'. She was mostly relieved he hadn't done anything for her just because he thought she was someone else.

" If you don't mind, may I ask you something now?" Ender asked, closing his book.

" Sure." Willow said. It was fair.

" Why did you ask about Valkyrie?" He had seen her when she entered the kitchen. Something told him whatever was on her mind was strongly linked to Valkyrie, which is why she had asked about her.

" ...I had a dream." Willow said after some hesitation. " I can't remember a lot of it, but I thought, at first, that I was battling a large dragon with my sister. But then I lost my awareness of the dream and called her Valkyrie. It was a long battle, but eventually the dragon rose into the sky, burst into these beams of light, and dropped experience orbs everywhere. That's how I know the dream was in minecraft. Then this portal appeared, I think it was in the ground, and Valkyrie and I looked at each other. We were very excited for some reason. She jumped in first and was gone. But when I jumped in something went… wrong. I don't know how to describe it… Like a piece of me, and I don't mean physically, like my mind, my _being_ was being ripped apart, but not all of it. Not completely. And toward the end I heard these distorted screams in my mind. I know," Willow took a deep breath and let it out. " I know I must sound insane or something, but I still hear it. When I first got here, she talked to me. And then she stopped. But earlier today, I thought I heard it. I brushed it off as my imagination."

Willow looked at Ender, who looked troubled. Possibly the first emotion she had seen on his face. There was silence again, and this time Ender broke it.

" Well, I don't believe you're Valkyrie." he finally said. " I believe that dream was a memory of your past."

" I never have dreams that actually follow reality." Willow scoffed.

" What do you think it is then?" Ender looked at her intently.

Willow didn't have an answer.

" It's possible..." Ender thought quietly. He opened his book to a specific page and turned it towards Willow. " Does it look familiar?"

" That's..." Willow trailed off, looking at the sketch. It couldn't be her. " Valkyrie. Isn't it?"

Ender shook his head. " There was something else I didn't tell you. I just found this journal today. It seemed to have been hidden." Ender paused, uncertain.

" Who is it?" Willow asked, impatient. This sounded really important.

Instead of answering, Ender flipped the pages back, which revealed what looked like several mathematic and scientific formulas, accompanied by hand drawn illustrations, in a familiar handwriting. " This was Valkyrie's lab journal. She was cloning herself." He responded grimly.

Willow stared dumbly at the book, the page Ender stopped on containing a sketch of a young woman curled up, not unlike a baby in the womb, in a large test tube, with tubes connecting her to the top of the capsule. " You mean," Willow said faintly. She felt numb and confused. " that's me. And the girl in the other picture was me too."

Ender didn't say anything, knowing she needed to think.

Willow wanted to deny it. Who would want to be an exact copy of someone else? And if she was a clone… There was a possibility she didn't want to consider. But the dreams she had been having seemed to back up everything Ender had said, and she knew the one she just had wasn't the only one, even if she couldn't remember the others. Still, could they be a freaky coincidence? This wasn't something to be taken lightly. Obviously. Willow took a deep breath and closed the book.

" I'm not going to believe this just because I had some odd dreams. I'll need something concrete. Undeniable." she said, standing up.

Ender nodded. " That's understandable." He pushed the journal over to her. " You should keep it."

Willow studied him carefully. He clearly believed all this, but how much? Willow thought she knew why he wanted her to have the journal, and she herself was curious, but she didn't want to study it. Then again, if this didn't relate to her she had no reason to worry. The fact that she _was_ worried was cause to be concerned.

She slowly reached out and took the journal, still watching Ender, who was as unreadable as always. Then she left, stuffing the journal in the very bottom of her backpack before going outside.

Ender didn't move until he heard the front door open and close. He hadn't wanted to tell her about that, but he knew it wasn't fair to keep it from her. He got up and collected the mugs. Willow's was still full. She hadn't even touched it. Ender poured the tea into the sink and washed both mugs before putting them away. He wasn't completely convinced Willow was a clone or Valkyrie herself. Or if it was all just a strange coincidence. But he thought it was very likely, given what he knew, that Willow was a clone, and that's why he had her keep the journal. If it was true, she was probably better off knowing sooner rather than later. He looked out the window. It was still dark outside. Hopefully Willow didn't wander off and get herself into too much trouble.

Willow stayed on the porch. She felt kind of uncomfortable being outside at night. The memories of being attacked by mobs still fresh in her mind. Telling Ender about the voice had been a recent change of mind. Willow looked up at the stars, trying to make sense of everything. The sky was so much clearer here. She had never seen so many stars, not even when she was little and lived on the countryside. Earth was so different. Not even the air was as fresh. Willow shook her head. She didn't belong here, and the sooner she got back to her world the better.

The next morning Ender found Willow and Stormy asleep on the couch, Willow having come back inside when she got tired. He woke them up easily by telling them breakfast was ready. Stormy was more energetic than she had been yesterday. That was both good and bad.

" Sooooo..." she started.

" So?" Ender put the food in front of them.

" So..."

" What is it Stormy?" Ender asked, sitting down.

" So..." By now it was obvious Stormy was messing with them. She glanced at Willow, who hadn't reacted yet. When she got no answer she started again. " Soooo..." she said loudly.

" Stormy." Ender looked at her.

" What are we doing today?" Stormy smiled innocently.

" We're going to the desert village this afternoon to meet with Cordelia and Eve."

" What? Why?" Stormy didn't sound pleased with the idea.

" Because we need to explain some things."

Stormy complained for the rest of the morning.

When they finished eating Willow volunteered to wash the dishes while Ender dried them and put them away. As soon as they were done Stormy insisted on teaching Willow crafting recipes. Ender gave Willow a plain notebook to write in when he felt her getting frustrated over not being able to practice the recipes. From then on she wrote down the ones she was shown. Ender was also dragged into it when Stormy forgot how to craft a few things.

In what felt like a short amount of time the sun was nearing the middle of the sky and they had to stop. Willow dropped the notebook in her backpack and slung it over her shoulder. Stormy and Ender followed her into the living room.

" Why are you taking that?" Stormy asked.

" I'm leaving after the conversation." she said quietly, looking at Ender. Those were the first words she had said all day.

Ender disappeared back into the kitchen.

" That's really soon." Stormy was surprised.

" Yeah, well." Willow looked away.

" That's fine. My backpack's in my inventory."

Willow blinked. She should have thought of that.

Ender came back out of the kitchen and handed them both small bags of food. " You'll need that. And this." He handed them a folded piece of paper.

Stormy opened it, revealing a large map. She laid it on the table and studied it for a few minutes before folding it back up.

" Thanks." Willow whispered.

" Yeah. Thanks Ender." Stormy grinned and put it in her inventory.

Ender teleported them to the desert village's beach and they waited. Eve showed up first. She looked miserable. Cordelia appeared not much later. She looked different somehow. They all looked at Ender expectantly.

" Perhaps we should go inside one of the houses for this?" he suggested.

Most of them agreed, and none disagreed. Once they were inside Ender started.

" The first thing we should go over is what happened after Valkyrie left." he said, looking at Cordelia. She glared back. Over to the side Willow tensed. " She reached the End and went through the portal. That brings into question the claim that Valkyrie is back."

Cordelia scowled at him. " It _is _possible for a mob to return after crossing over," she said, than admitted reluctantly, " even if it's rare. But how else do you explain her similarity to Val." She gestured to Willow at 'her'. " Valkyrie never had a twin."

" It is possible, but it's rare, like you said, and no one knows what happens when a mob jumps through the portal. The only ones who would are Notch and Herobrine, neither of which are an option. Even if Valkyrie came back, there's no guaranteeing she would be the same or even have the same memories." Ender explained.

" So why does she look exactly like her." Cordelia pointed at Willow again.

" We don't know. All we can do is guess." Ender said.

It was nearly a lie. Willow closed her eyes, glad he hadn't told Cordelia he believed Willow was a clone. Cordelia saw Willow's reaction and knew something was being left out.

" You do know, don't you. You at least have a good idea." she said, trying to stare Ender down.

" I don't know anything, and even if I did it wouldn't be my place to tell you." he replied, unaffected.

Cordelia glared at him and looked at Willow.

" No." Willow didn't give her a chance to say anything. " All I can tell you is that I'm not Valkyrie, and I'm not saying anything else to you if I can help it." she said coldly.

Cordelia looked hurt. Willow turned away from her. Eve watched the interaction and felt herself get annoyed at Willow, even if her behavior was understandable.

" The second thing," Ender got their attention again, " is the increased amount of hostile mobs lately. Have any of you noticed that kind of thing happening lately to anyone else?"

They all shook their heads.

" You should all be more careful anyway, especially if someone's being targeted. We'll be the first ones they come to if they can't find the target." he said seriously.

" You might as well just say her name. We all know who you're talking about." Cordelia grumbled, annoyed.

" Do we?" Ender inquired. " Willow wasn't the only one who was there every time a large group of mobs appeared."

Everyone, except Willow and Stormy, looked at him confused.

" I was there. Every time." Stormy held her hand up like she was in class, which Willow found peculiar because as far as she knew Stormy never went to school.

Cordelia and Eve stared at her in surprise.

" It doesn't matter, either way, because we've all met both of them." Ender said.

There was silence for a long time. Willow yawned.

" Is that all?" she asked, wanting to leave the hot, stuffy building.

" That's everything I wanted to cover. Is there anything else?" he asked, looking around. No one said anything. " Alright. Willow, before you leave..."

Willow nodded, stopping him before he said anything else. " Walk with me."

Willow and Ender left. Eve looked at Stormy, curious. Stormy pretended not to notice and went outside.

" Even if you are a clone, I don't believe that you are exactly like her." Ender told Willow once they were far enough away from the village.

Willow smiled regretfully. " A clone is an exact copy."

Ender looked at her. " Perhaps you were once, or maybe not."

Willow stopped and looked at him, annoyed.

" I can't say I understood all the equations in the journal," he said, stopping as well, " but from the ones I did I can say that Valkyrie didn't want you to be exactly like her. You look like her, yes, but your genetics are slightly different."

Willow scoffed. " _Slightly_. Big difference." she said sarcastically.

" At the time." Ender continued. " But you don't even remember that. You had an entirely different life. A person's personality is affected by their experiences and the people they meet. Even if she still existed and you met her, you would be different, without a doubt."

Willow was relieved. What Ender said made sense, but…

" You really believe all this. That I was originally a clone."

" It's very possible." Ender said. He suddenly knew where she was going with that statement. " You're right. I've been going back and forth between talking like I fully believe it and talking like it's merely a possibility. I'm very close to believing it. The only thing in the way is the lack of concrete evidence, as you called it."

" Ender, they're _dreams_. That's all they are."

" Yet they somehow support everything I've found, and you were hearing a voice like the one in your dream."

" What if I'm just hearing things? What if I'm hallucinating?" she asked, disturbed.

That made Ender pause. He hadn't been expecting that. " You're not, Willow. Just read the journal."

" How am I even supposed to understand it? It would take me more time than I have to learn everything I'd need to know."

" Time moves much faster in minecraft than it does on Earth. I'm sure you noticed the changes that have happened since you got here."

Willow had been frustrated, but when she thought about what he just said she relaxed. " The sun was square at first, and time is moving normally now."

Ender nodded. " That's because you got here through the void. You had to enter our speed of time gradually because the void doesn't just leave you completely. It's like an ocean. You fell through it and absorbed some of it, so when you washed up here it stayed with you and either dripped off or dried. That may be why you heard the voice more often then. The void can have strange effects on people."

" Right." Willow was confused. " How do you know that?"

" Endermen are born on the very surface of the void. We have a natural connection to it."

Willow thought for a moment, trying to get back on subject. " The void is mostly gone from me now, right? I won't hear the voice anymore?" She had to ask.

" It is, and since you said you haven't been hearing it lately you probably won't hear it anymore after a while without a lot of meditating."

" Meditating. Never mind." She hesitated for a minute. " You're sure I'll have enough time?"

Ender nodded. He looked over her shoulder and saw Stormy waving at them. " I think Stormy is finally getting impatient." he said, amused.

Willow turned around then looked back at Ender. " Yeah. We should get going. Thanks, for everything." She smiled. " Hey, you can't read minds, can you?" she asked, suddenly thoughtful.

" No, but I can sense the feelings of others and accurately guess what they're thinking. I guess you could call it a strong empathy."

" Oh." Willow said, surprised. " Well, see you later. I guess." She smiled again and walked away, waving over her shoulder.

Ender teleported home and smiled when no one could see him.


End file.
